Bali: Paradise Lost?

'Bali: Paradise Lost?' is the second in the new series of NOW Australia – creative non-fiction on contemporary issues by Australia's leading writers and journalists and issued five times a year.

This is the story of Australia's fascination with Bali and its complex and often difficult relationship with Indonesia – the world's largest Muslim nation and the anticipated second front for the international war on terrorism. The book stems from the author's personal experiences and acute observations of Bali – before and after terrorism. 'Bali: Paradise Lost?' is an intensely personal narrative which charts Emma Tom's visits to the island over the past 16 years, as well as candid reportage from a recent trip which involved numerous interviews with locals as well as a gut-wrenching visit to Kerobokan Prison to visit a prisoner on death row.

Emma Tom explores the impact of the Bali bombings and the recent arrests of Australians on drug charges in an attempt to determine whether Australia's relationship with Bali will ever be the same again. She also captures the humour and idiosyncrasies of Bali as well as the current atmosphere of fear and apprehension (both of terrorism as well as of economic collapse). Tom charts the history of Australia's relationship with Bali (in many ways we've constructed it as our own territory) as well as canvassing recent events such as the drug trials of Schapelle Corby and the Bali Nine, Indonesian/Australian relations and Asian terrorism.