The Other Side

Critics Review

• In effervescent and atmospheric prose, Jennifer Higgie explores some of history’s most innovative artists and their spiritual investigations into this realm and the next. I was entranced from start to finish, as she takes us on both a personal and artistic journey across time and across the globe. The Other Side is an exhilarating read

  KATY HESSEL, author of THE STORY OF ART WITHOUT MEN

• Invigorating . . . The Other Side [is] endlessly intriguing . . . I was enchanted

  DAILY TELEGRAPH

• The Other Side lit up my brain. A radical, fascinating exploration of art and the otherworldly, Higgie is an expert and erudite guide in this brilliant reclamation of female artists

  SINÉAD GLEESON, author of CONSTELLATIONS

• The Other Side is a colourful, varied look at the many artists and thinkers who have touched worlds beyond our own – and a necessary reconsideration of why they have all too often been “brushed aside”

  PROSPECT

• Wonderful . . . Higgie guides us through overlooked stories from the history of art and reveals the insights into the nature of imagination which reside there. Illuminating in every sense of the word

  JOHN HIGGS, author of WILLIAM BLAKE VS THE WORLD

• A rewarding and invigorating read

  SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

• An entrancing look at formerly neglected artists who navigated thresholds between this world and the next, and a crucial exploration of realms formerly dismissed. Elegantly expanded my thinking on the eternal mystery of where art comes from

  JENNIFER LUCY ALLAN, author of THE FOGHORN'S LAMENT

• A majestic account of the ways in which women’s art has developed in response to spiritual experience. Higgie traces a compelling route through an alternative history that attends to the astonishing work of female artists whose practice was deeply connected to spiritualism and the occult, and which was often far ahead of its time, anticipating practices and modes of modernist abstraction . . . endlessly surprising and ambitious

  THE MONTHLY

• Ranging from 12th-century mystic Hildegard von Bingen to 20th-century painters such as Ithell Colquhoun and Hilma af Klint, Higgie teases out links between spiritualism, feminism and art history in this evocative study

  APOLLO MAGAZINE

• Jennifer Higgie is the most splendid of guides on this enthralling journey of a book. With tremendous intelligence, sensitivity and a receptivity nearly equal to that of her subjects, she leads us through a gallery of remarkable women artists whose dialogue with other realms became the font of their creativity as well as a sanctuary. Excellent, inspiring and transformative

  CHLOE ARIDJIS, author of SEA MONSTERS

• Intriguing . . . There is a vein of optimism and wonder running through the text

  NEW YORK TIMES