It’s not uncommon for Hollywood to turn to Australian penned works to create blockbuster projects—from Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies (and Nine Perfect Strangers) to Jane Harper’s The Dry, the storytelling among Aussie creatives is unmatched.
Now, the adaptation of Holly Ringland’s debut novel, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, an Australian original for Amazon Prime Video, has taken home the AACTA Award for Best Miniseries.
The seven-part series, a tale of female resilience, friendship, and the power to overcome tragedy, was filmed locally, with Australian writer Sarah Lambert (Lamb of Gods) serving as the series showrunner, and Glendyn Ivin (The Cry) in the directing chair.
“Although I mostly wrote The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart thinking that no one other than me would ever read it, I wanted my novel to find its people—I was driven by a deep, aching desire for connection,” said author Holly Ringland, via Deadline.
“To use my voice. To roar like I used to on bushwalks as a child, yelling cooee out into the Australian bush, waiting with breath held to hear someone else, unknown and unseen to me but on the same track, yell cooee back. I’m here. You’re not alone. It’s what I wanted to feel in my writing; it’s the feeling I wanted Alice and her story to give others. This is my wildest dream, seeing my first novel, Alice’s story, be brought to life on screen and for a global audience on Amazon Prime Video.”
With award-winning actress Sigourney Weaver signed on for a starring role, the series is definitely one to keep on your radar. Read on for everything we know about The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.
What Is The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart About?
Ringland’s novel, originally released in 2019, follows a young girl, Alice Hart, whose violent childhood casts a dark shadow over her adult life. After a family tragedy in which she loses both her abusive father and beloved mother in a tragic and mysterious fire, nine-year-old Alice is taken to live with her grandmother June on a flower farm where she learns the dark secrets about her and her family’s past.
“Under the watchful eye of June and the women who run the farm, Alice settles but grows up increasingly frustrated by how little she knows of her family’s story,” reads its official description, “In her early twenties, Alice’s life is thrown into upheaval again when she suffers devastating betrayal and loss. Desperate to outrun grief, Alice flees to the dramatically beautiful central Australian desert. In this otherworldly landscape, Alice thinks she has found solace until she meets a charismatic and ultimately dangerous man”.
The stunning story spans two decades and is set between sugar cane fields by the sea, a native Australian flower farm, and a celestial crater in the central desert, all of which provide the perfect backdrop to Alice’s journey, as she learns that the most powerful story she will ever possess is her own.
You can find Ringland’s novel here.
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, $20.35 at Booktopia
Who Has Been Cast In The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart?
On May 19, 2021, Amazon announced that Sigourney Weaver had signed on to star in the upcoming production.
“This gripping and emotional story is a broad-skewing drama featuring strong female characters, written and produced by an incredible team of talented female film-makers, and set against a stunning local landscape,” said Erika North, Head of Originals, Asia Pacific, at Amazon Studios, via Deadline.
“We are thrilled that the wonderful Sigourney Weaver signed on to this project to bring the complex and powerful story to life. We will continue to produce more local content, offering and unearthing compelling stories featuring Australian artists, writers and producers and are proud of the Australian originals we have created with local production partners.”
In her cover interview for the August 2023 issue of marie claire Australia, Weaver described her character Jane as having an over-protective nature, which leads her to shelter her granddaughter Alice away from family secrets.
“Her whole being is behind these choices that she makes,” Weaver said. “It’s her way of protecting her flower family and her true family … I feel like there was a great urgency in June, to continue to block things she thought would make trouble. And unfortunately, most of it is actually the truth. But I don’t think she sees it that way.”
Joining her is Gold Logie and AACTA award winner Asher Keddie, 2022’s AACTA Best Lead Actress winner Leah Purcell, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Frankie Adams, Alexander England, Charlie Vickers, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Sebastián Zurita, Alyla Browne, and Xavier Samuel.
Sarah Lambert, best known for her work on the television adaptation of the Marele Day novel, Lamb of God, is the series showrunner, while Jodi Matterson and Bruna Papandrea serve as executive producers.
“From the moment I read The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart I knew I wanted to bring this story and these characters to the screen,” said Lambert in a statement. “It’s such a timely drama about family, love and relationships born out of the violence so often hidden neatly away behind closed doors. Leaving behind untold damage. However, it is also an extraordinarily hopeful story about women, resilience, friendship, and giving voice to the truth to finally break free of the past. I cannot wait to take audiences on this journey with the indomitable Alice Hart. There really is no better platform than Amazon Prime Video to bring this story to the world with their commitment to original voices and groundbreaking shows.”
What Is The Release Date For The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart?
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart premieres on Prime Video on August 4, 2023 with the first three episodes. One new episode will then roll out weekly until the series finale on September 1.
Where To Watch The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart In Australia
You can watch The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart exclusively on Prime Video in Australia, so you’re going to want to sign up here to start watching.
While you’re there, you can watch other Australian Originals including Deadloch, Luxe Listings Sydney and The Test.
Stream The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart now on Prime Video with a 30-day free trial. Subscribe here.
