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October 26, 2026 · 8:29 pm

The Book of the After – Rebecca Higgie

Cover image of the novel 'The Book of the After' by Rebecca Higgie

I read Rebecca’s previous novel – The History of Mischief – and I enjoyed it, so when I heard she had a new novel I was keen to read it. Here is the blurb …

Imagine a book that could tell us what happens after we die.

In 2049, The Book of the After has become a cult classic, and Negus Kebede has always wondered if what it says is true.

His name means ‘king’ in his mother tongue but, following a great loss, Negus is a reluctant leader – for what is a king without his queen?

If The Book of the After is right, then they could be reunited. But a would-be assassin is haunting him, determined to alter Negus’ destiny, and that of the country he loves.

Crossing centuries and continents, space and time, this is a love story for the ages – and everything after.

This novel is extraordinary. It’s scope is enormous – historical, environmental, politics, community, family, love, and revenge. It’s clearly well-researched, but wears the research lightly. The writing is beautiful, and the characters are fabulous – varied, but believable.

Shall we always talk, gentleman, and never do anything?

Every meeting I have ever gone to

‘We should’ve just flown the eagles to Mordor.’

Why don’t the eagles get flown to Mordor?

I can’t wait to see what she does next.

The History of Mischief – Rebecca Higgie

I bought this because the cover is beautiful (and it was published by Fremantle Press – a local publisher). It then languished in my TBR until I met the author’s mother and I decided it had to be read.

Here’s the blurb …

When Jessie and her older sister Kay find a book called The History of Mischief, hidden beneath the floorboards in their grandmother’s house, they uncover a secret world. The History chronicles how, since antiquity, mischief-makers have clandestinely shaped the past – from an Athenian slave to a Polish salt miner and from an advisor to the Ethiopian Queen to a girl escaping the Siege of Paris. Jessie becomes enthralled by the book and by her own mission to determine its accuracy.

Soon the History inspires Jessie to perform her own acts of mischief, unofficially becoming mischief-maker number 202 in an effort to cheer up her eccentric neighbour, Mrs Moran, and to comfort her new schoolfriend, Theodore. However, not everything is as it seems. As Jessie delves deeper into the real story behind the History, she realises it holds many secrets and unravelling them might be the biggest mischief of all.

I loved all of the references to Western Australia – Guildford (I know that war memorial), the lighthouse near Augusta (I have been up it several times – so windy).

This is beautifully written – we have a chapter from Jessie (our 9 year old heroine) and then a story from The History of Mischief. Jessie lives with her older sister Kay in their Grand mother’s house (she is in a nursing home). Jessie’s grieving and a bit lost and the History provides direction. She researches the characters and places she reads about in it. I enjoyed these sections, particularly the Paris and Ethiopian sections.

Some of my favourite quotes

Some of the stories are sad because people or animals die and lots of princesses have to marry the heroes, even though no one asks them if they want to.

One’s own language never feels foreign. It is the language we start to speak before we form memories. It is the script we use to think, to dream, to feel.

To me this was about taking life’s experiences turning them into something good and joyful. About healing through story telling.

A review.

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Tagged as higgie rebecca, rebecca higgie, the history of mischief