The Glass Islands

The Glass Islands, a year in Lombok, is published by Monsoon Books, a UK-Singapore-based publishing house. Released in September 2023, this is Mark’s second book about Indonesia. Mark is one of the owners of The Studio – and the book is all about how he and his wife, Ibu Sopan, developed the Hill and designed and built the Studio!

The book was presented at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in October 2023, and launched at community events in Senggigi on November 3^rd and in Hobart on December 14^th. It was exactly ten years after the launch of Mark’s first book, Crazy Little Heaven, an Indonesian journey, which was described by veteran Australian journalist, Tim Bowden, as “the best book on Indonesia I have read.”

The Glass Islands is the story of the Studio – of how Mark and his family found Lombok, of how they discovered the Hill and acquired the land, of how the landscaping was conceived and developed, of how the villa and the two studios were imagined and then constructed. It is a tale full of love and full of stories about the island of Lombok.

Here is what celebrated travel writer, Tim Hannigan, has to say: “The Glass Islands is a sensitive, insightful and warm-hearted account of life in Indonesia. What raises this book far above other expat memoirs is the depth of Mark Heyward’s commitment to the country and the subtlety of his observations on its culture, society and history – a heartfelt love-song to the place he has made his home, and to his own Indonesian family.”