Mr Wigg

by Inga Simpson

A novel that celebrates the small things in life by a fresh Australian voice.

It's the summer of 1971, not far from the stone-fruit capital of New South Wales, where Mr Wigg lives on what is left of his family farm. Mrs Wigg has been gone a few years now and he thinks about her every day. He misses his daughter, too, and wonders when he'll see her again.

He spends his time working in the orchard, cooking and preserving his produce and, when it's on, watching the cricket. It's a full life. Things are changing though, with Australia and England playing a one-day match, and his new neighbours planting grapes for wine. His son is on at him to move into town but Mr Wigg has his fruit trees and his chooks to look after. His grandchildren visit often: to cook, eat and hear his stories. And there's a special project he has to finish ...

It's a lot of work for an old man with shaking hands, but he'll give it a go, as he always has.

Genres: Fiction, Australia, Book Club, Literary Fiction, Family, Contemporary, Historical Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Inga is the award-winning author of THE THINNING, WILLOWMAN, THE LAST WOMAN IN THE WORLD, THE BOOK OF AUSTRALIAN TREES, UNDERSTORY: a life with trees, WHERE THE TREES WERE, NEST and MR WIGG.

A novelist and nature writer, her work explores our relationship with the natural world.

Inga grew up in central west NSW, and has lived in Canberra, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. She is now based on the far south coast of NSW.

WILLOWMAN was shortlisted for the Bookpeople adult fiction Book of the Year 2023.

UNDERSTORY: a life with trees (2017), Inga's first book-length work of nature writing, was shortlisted for the Adelaide Writers Week prize for nonfiction.

WHERE THE TREES WERE (2016) was shortlisted for an Indie Award, and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, ABIA book awards and Green Carnation Prize.

NEST (2014) was shortlisted for the ALS Gold Medal, and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize.

Her debut novel, MR WIGG, was selected for the 2011 QWC/Hachette manuscript developemnt program and, as a result, published by Hachette in 2013. MR WIGG was shortlisted for an Indie Award and longlisted for the Dobbie Award.

In 2012, Inga was the winner of the final Eric Rolls nature essay prize.

She has a PhDs in creative writing and English literature, and her short work has been published in Griffith Review, Wonderground, the Review of Australian Fiction, Clues, WQ, and the Dictionary of Literary Biography.

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr Wigg by Inga Simpson is a beautifully written book. A heartwarming, moving story that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

I loved the way the history of the fruit trees was written into this story and I could easily picture Mr Wigg keeping busy in the orchard then cooking and preserving his produce whilst watching the cricket when it was on TV. I loved this book and have no hesitation in highly recommending it to anyone who enjoys a beautiful and well-written story.

[Jülie ☼♄  · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr Wigg.

"The pot of water came to the boil. Mr Wigg lowered in a yellow peach with an egg spoon and counted out forty seconds before placing it in the bowl of iced water. He slipped off its skin in one movement, throwing it in the bucket for the chooks, like a crumpled coat. He repeated the process until lines of naked peaches covered the bench, glistening and vulnerable as newborns."

Poetry!

What a beautiful voice this story has, I found myself re-reading passages just to hear them all over again.

Mr Wigg is a semi retired Orchard Farmer and sometime Blacksmith who is not ready to slow down and succumb to the inevitabilities of old age.
Having recently lost his wife and life partner, he is struggling to learn to cope with the loneliness of living and working alone in the house and farm that was for so long, their partnership and passion.
Though he still wakes early every morning and goes about his day doing the work he loves with quiet determination and resolve, he is reluctantly beginning to feel the effects of age creeping upon him.
Now his son has started to badger him about selling up and moving into town...for his own good.

The story takes us through each of the seasons of Mr Wigg's life on the Orchard and shows us how time, and the seasons, cause growth and change in all living things.
It is beautifully written in such a way as to [often] give the reader pause for reflection.

It reads almost like a Memoir or Biography.
I loved this book, it was quietly contemplative and thought provoking. It is a book well worth reading, and one I will be recommending highly to all lovers of a good book!
5★s

Many Thanks to my GR Buddy Carolyn for recommending I read this Gem.

[Phrynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautiful and well written book with a lot of fascinating information about many things. I very much enjoyed all the references to life in the 1970's and the cooking details were absolutely delicious. Occasionally I felt there was too much information, especially about the orchard and I had a sense of being lectured. Also a slight sense of boredom. In the end I think it was all a little too bland and not really my cup of tea, although I do see how many people can find it a five star read.

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the first paragraph I fell in love with this gentle book. Set in 1971 it tells of Mr Wigg, who lives on the remnant of what was his family farm. His wife died almost twelve months earlier but she is never far from his thoughts and memories. Neither is his daughter who lives in the city and who he rarely sees after an estrangement that saw her leave home many years before. He does see his son but that in itself carries a few problems as his son wants him Mr Wigg to give up his orchard and move into town.
I spent much of the time reading this book through a film of tears. Others times I wore a smile on my face. Sometimes the tears and smile went hand in hand. What I liked about this book is that it is not a big dramatic story but a story about ordinary people and small moments beautifully rendered in lyrical prose. I also loved learning about the history of the fruit trees and the stories Mr Wigg told his grandchildren about the Peach Queen and the Peach King. The relationship between him and the two grandchildren Fiona and Lachlan is beautifully portrayed. The only time my eyes glazed over a little was when the narrative turned to cricket. You can tell I am not a cricket fan.
Several people had recommended this book and I was not disappointed. The story touches on many things like the Vietnam War and conscription, family relationships, coping with change, old age, grief and regret. This is a truly beautiful book. The characters will live with you long after the last page. I am looking forward to reading Nest the next book by this talented author, which I have here waiting.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr Wigg was living alone now; his wife had passed away almost a year ago, and he missed her daily. He loved his orchard with all his fruit trees that he had cultivated over the years – peaches, nectarines, apricots, oranges, persimmons and more. He tended to them daily; his wife’s beloved rose garden wasn’t looking as lovely as it had when she’d been alive – the rose garden had been his wife’s domain, the orchard his. Now he found he was busy from dawn to dusk as there was always something to do; the chooks (his ladies) kept him in eggs on a daily basis. And while he was working in the house, he listened to the cricket – it was 1971 and the Ashes was playing; Australia V England but Australia wasn’t faring too well.

When Mr Wigg’s grandchildren, Fiona and Lachlan came to visit, the house would come alive. They would cook special apple pies and strawberry tarts together; and Mr Wigg would tell them stories of the Peach King and the Orchard Queen. But Mr Wigg’s son wanted him to move into town; to sell his beloved farm with his orchard – his life was on the farm, but his son thought he was too old to live out there on his own…

As the seasons passed, Mr Wigg kept busy – he was working on a project; it was a challenge but he knew he could do it. He just wished Mrs Wigg was here to see his work…

What an absolutely divine piece of work! Aussie author Inga Simpson has a most amazing talent and a way with words that I don’t think I have ever seen before. There are many sections of this book that made me sigh with delight, but this particular passage caught my eye:

Mr Wigg wandered through his arbour of blossom. The apricots, dressed in white, and the nectarines and peaches in rose pink, reached for each other with fresh generosity. Their foliage was a rich emerald, the air heavy with perfume and the hum of bees. Page 221.

I also think that the cover is perfection! I read Nest earlier this year which is the author’s second novel, and loved it. And I can’t wait for her next release. I have no hesitation in recommending Mr Wigg highly, and thank the many goodreads friends who kept telling me to read it.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr Wigg is the first novel by Australian author, Inga Simpson. Beginning in the summer of 1970-71, it recounts a year in the life of a recently widowed elderly farmer, Mr Wigg. With his son forced to sell the family’s wheat farm, Mr Wigg retains the farmhouse, his wife’s rose garden, the vegetable patch and the orchard he has maintained throughout his married life. And despite urging by his son, he is determined to resist moving into town.

Although he misses his wife terribly, Mr Wigg’s life goes on, and he spends his days tending his orchard, listening to the cricket, baking with his grandchildren and telling them wonderful stories. And watching as the land he once farmed becomes a vineyard. As Mr Wigg’s year progresses through the seasons, he harvests fruit, preserves and bottles, and looks back on his life with his wife and children, still bewildered by The Year That Everything Went Wrong and his estrangement from his daughter.

It may seem that not much happens in the novel, but if the mild intrigue about what came before does not spur the reader on, then Mr Wigg’s interactions with his trees and his grandchildren, and his special project, will. Simpson carefully crafts her novel to gradually reveal her characters and plot. The feel of the seventies is firmly established by the mention of popular songs, sporting and world events. Simpson delights readers by having Mr Wigg attribute to his beloved fruit trees thoughts and feelings, emotions and attitudes, dialogue and movement so that, in short, these fruit trees have character.

Simpson’s descriptive prose is beautiful (“Birdsong rushed to fill the space the night left behind”) and often mouth-watering (“Mr Wigg broke open the ripest of the fruit, crimson juice spraying up his wrist and onto his shirt. The seeds nestled in neat rows like damp jewels.“), so much so that latent or lapsed enthusiasts might well feel compelled to head for their preserving pans and pickle jars. Mr Wigg is a novel that stays with the reader well after turning the last page, as Simpson touches on issues both topical and historical: ageing and independence; the Vietnam War and conscription; the chain of inheritance; survivor guilt; grief and regret; doing so with intelligence, warmth and humour.

There are many interesting tidbits on fruit, history and viticulture. Blacksmithing, quite a bit of cricket, exploding bottles of cider, pickles, ice cream, a fruit dryer and a marvellous fairy tale all feature. This delicious novel is an absolute pleasure to consume and fans will look forward to Simpson’s next novel, Nest.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was totally captivated by this gentle, charming account of a year in the life of Mr Wigg, set in the summer of 1971 in New South Wales. Mr Wigg is an old man in his 80s, whose wife has recently died. He lives on what remains of the family farm, where his passion is for his orchard, his life’s work. In a purely practical sense the orchard has produced – and still does produce – food for his family, but it means more than that to him. He has an almost mystical relationship with the trees, which to him seem to have their own distinct personalities. So he tends his orchard and bottles and preserves the fruit, he looks after his grandchildren, cooking with them and enchanting them with his stories, and he listens to the cricket on the radio, the slow pace of which is much more to his taste than the fast pace of a changing world. But this is no rural idyll. His son is impatient with his obstinacy in staying on the farm and his daughter is angry and resentful that her brother is going to inherit it all. In the background lurks the menace of the lottery that sends Australia’s young men to the Vietnam War. All Mr Wigg can do is look after his trees.
Nostalgia for a lost rural past, an older way of life, an attachment to the land and the skills that people once knew, make this a melancholy book, but its whimsical fairy-tale atmosphere has something hopeful and comforting about it as well. The writing is spare and expertly paced, the characters engaging, especially Mr Wigg himself, and altogether this is a complete gem of a book that lingers long in the mind after turning the last page.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous story, gentle and moving, taking us through the cycles of flowering and fruiting in Mr Wigg’s orchard. Mr Wigg is a retired farmer who has recently lost his wife and misses her every day. His son and wife and two young children live next door on the farm that has belonged to the Wiggs for generations, originally as part of a much larger property, but now much diminished, with the last parcel about to be sold to a wine maker. Mr Wigg is sad about this because not only will it be the end of the Wigg family farm but also he will miss his son and grandchildren, Fiona and Lachlan, who visit often to cook luscious cakes and desserts with him from the fruits harvested from his orchard. The descriptions of the recipes he cooks are so delicious and succulent that you can almost smell them. Although his son would like him to move to a retirement home in town, Mr Wigg is content on his own, working in his vegetable garden and his orchard and making fancy ironwork as a hobby in his workshop. Mr Wigg has nurtured and cared for each of his fruit trees since they were saplings many years ago and can hear them singing and muttering to him when he tends them or picks their fruit.

I love the way this novel is constructed, broken up into four sections aligning with the seasons and with each chapter named after a fruit or simple event in Mr Wigg’s life. The novel is full of the loveliest prose and also humour as Mr Wigg looks back on his life, helps his new neighbours plant their vineyard, plans a sculpture for a competition and listens to the cricket on the radio (this is the 70s so Lillee, Marsh and the Chappell brothers rule the pitch). When his grandchildren visit, Mr Wigg tells them the story of the Peach King and Orchard Queen – an enchanting fairy tale in it’s own right. The cover of the book states that this is ‘a novel that celebrates the small things in life’ and indeed it does, but it also reminds us that they are also important things that we should hold on to and treasure while we can. This is a very classy and elegant novel from a gifted writer.

[Jacq · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words fail me but surely this will become a new Australian classic.
Beautiful.
Whimsical.
A tale to touch the hearts of most anyone with a hint of rural upbringing. A story of our grandfathers.
No roller-coasters, no sensationalism. No shock factor or twists.
Just… Amazing.
The best book I've read all year, because it connected on so many levels.

[Michael Livingston · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quiet, simple story about an old man and his orchard. The plot is minimal - some reflections on family - but the writing about gardening, cooking and the outdoors is lovely.

[John Purcell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book that comes to mind on having finished Inga Simpson’s Mr Wigg is Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. They share nothing much in common; Mr Wigg is set in country Australia in 1970, is about a man at the end of his long life, and the most contentious issue touched on is the sacking of Bill Lawry as captain of the Australian cricket team. But even so, that warm feeling that comes from having read something that has strengthened or even reawakened a sense of what is right and good about the world overwhelmed me on closing the book. And also, I suspect, though it isn’t actually true of Mr Wigg, both stories are from the point of view of the child. I know nothing of Inga Simpson, and I may easily have been tricked by her wonderful art, but I think this book is in some way an account of someone, and somewhere, she loved as a young person. Whatever its genesis, Mr Wigg is beautiful. A strange word to use, I know, but it is what it is.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deceptively simple story told with great pathos. Anybody who has elderly parents or a much loved grandparent will be touched by Mr Wigg and his day to day life. Sometimes I found myself quietly chuckling; other times I had to put the book away because I was weeping and couldn't stop. I finished the novel three days ago, but not a day has gone past since when I haven't thought of him. Well done, Inga Simpson. I look forward to reading what you come up with next.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a charming, gentle story. Organic, earthy and nurturing.
The front cover reads, "a novel that celebrates the small things in life", and that is does.
Set in 1971, Mr Wigg has grown up on the land; a family of orchardists, his farm is the last parcel of what once was a much larger area belonging to the Wigg family, dating back to the goldrush era.
Mr Wigg is now a very old man. His wife has died, he has raised two children - a daughter, who he is regrettably estranged and a son, who has sold up the family farm and moved, taking Mr Wigg's beloved grandchildren further away.
Mr Wigg's son is worried about his Dad. He would like to see him move into town where he is less burdened by the demands of the orchard,but this is not Mr Wigg's style and he is happy where he is.
Mr Wigg is a nurturer. His connection and love for his fruit trees; the partnership between he and they - one of nurturing and sustaining, shines through.
I loved the relationship he had with his wife and also his grandchildren, and the skills and wonder he passes on to them through cooking and story telling.
Mr Wigg tells his grandchildren the story of the Peach King, broken up over several chapters, and it reads like a fairy tale. Beautiful! One even gets a sense that Mr Wigg is like the Peach King too.
Mr Wigg is also a craftsman and sets about making a sculpture for a local competition - the winning entry to go up in the new Village Green.
I love how this book is constructed. The parts of the book cover a year, sectioned in seasons, many of the chapters discussing a harvesting or fruit processing occurrence aligned with the time of year.
If the reader has had any rural connection at all, they will enjoy the nostalgic journey that this novel takes, when things were largely still done the traditional way, by hand.
This is a beautifully gentle book, touching on the sweetness of a life now in its twilight, but a life lived honestly, respectfully and simply. This is a novel that is reminiscent of Facey's "A Fortunate Life". Enjoy!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very gentle, charming book set in NSW in 1971. Dear old Mr Wigg lives on what is left of the family farm and missing his wife dearly after she died the year before. The book poetically describes his day to day life, sometime reminiscing on the past and how things came to be. This book is all about making you appreciate the small things in life, which it does do beautifully.

[Cel Jel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A slow paced novel telling the story through the seasons and through the garden of a retired farmer. I enjoyed reading this book, enjoying the relaxed reflection on ageing and how to keep going when your life partner is lost.
I highly recommend this book if you want to revisit a quieter gentler time of life, that had no internet.

[Jeanine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, gorgeous gentle book, steady yet insightful.

[Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt like I was re enacting a part of my life reading this wonderful gentle novel. It was soothing and reminiscent to my soul and at times I had to put it down because of sadness and similarities to my own life. Thank you to the author who is able to bring such honesty and emotion to a simple story. Mr Wigg worked through the loss of his wife with a grief recipe, by picking his own fruit and the countless seasons of jam making and cooking with his grandchildren. He loved to get out into nature where he had a labour of love. It wasn’t just any jam, each jam reflected a lifetime of tireless spirit, endless patience and years of affection and learning, embracing the full spectrum of life.

[Kathy Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone in their 40s who had an insprational grandparent when they grew up in Australia, you should read this book. It is not fast paced, there are no saucy scenes or car chases. Just the simple life of an ordinary but at the same time extraordinary human being who lived on the land and adored his grandchildren. God bless you Pop, your generation knew how to make much of not a lot.

[Ashe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminded me of ‘A Man Called Ove’ and ‘The Promised Seed’. A novel focusing on the simple, more important things in life. The slower more honoured and appreciated rituals that are being forgotten in our fast paced modern chase for the material and money hungry economy. Give me a garden, veggies and chooks over any material life!!! Mr Wigg was a character you could liken to your own grandfather or old neighbour. He was so loveable!! A tale of family ties woven into the seasons of fruit and vegetables and baking. A book that gave me goosebumps and tears. Simply Beautiful 🥰

[Katherine Howell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Moving, heartfelt, beautifully written.
Brilliant.

[My Reading Days · Rating 5 out of 5]

The simplicity is what makes it so beautiful

[Fred Kingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

At times while reading this I felt I was standing still in time, the slow pace of the book, the detail, no rushing, engulfed me entirely.
Brilliant.

[Liz Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

So sweet. Big issues handled so delicately. I loved it!

[Dancey Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful. And at the right time.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading Mr Wigg, this is my kind of book. A beautiful, sweet and gentle story that reminds me partly of my Dad, my childhood and my love of gardening.

[Brett Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simpson brings the characters to life, such a beautiful story.

[Carolyn Matheson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've ever read. Just lovely.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this little, sweet, introspective story of a married man outliving his wife and his will to keep going. The side story of the fruit in his orchard is so interesting. Well done.

[Toni Umar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this little novel in an op shop, unread, how extraordinary! The content sounded quirky, how correct I was. It basically follows almost a year in the life of the main character, Mr Wiggs, who is in his 80’s and running a farm on his own. Lots of the content reads trivial, but it all adds up to some amazing story lines. His relationship with his grand children is incredibly special. His relationship with his son and daughter is like so many families, and leaves the reader wanting to intervene. There are many subtle messages, particularly regarding communication and things we want to do but we put off. The knowledge shared re fruit orchards is somehow fascinating too. I loved this gem of a book!

[Lisa Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr Wigg is an enchanting new novel by Queensland author, Inga Simpson. Set in 1971, the story takes place on Mr Wigg’s farm in South-West NSW. Here he grows a range of stone fruit, listens to the cricket on the radio, bakes with his grandchildren, reminisces about his life and works hard on a secret project.
‘Mr Wigg had squandered his life’ reads the first line of the book. And for some it might seem so. He has led a quiet life on the farm with his wife, Mrs Wigg, who died a few years ago. He has no great achievements to show for himself, just his orchard and his family. His son thinks it’s time he moved into town.
But Mr Wigg has a special relationship with all the fruit trees in his orchard and each has its own personality and quirky ways. The younger trees, the peaches and nectarines, tend towards silliness, while the older trees are wiser but sometimes impatient. Rhubarb, meanwhile, is characterised by a lack of manners. ‘Rhubarb’s speech was crude, and muted by soil.’
Things even get a bit saucy in spring, when the pears and apples get taunted by the trees which don’t need cross-pollination. ‘His books didn’t have much to say on the sexuality of fruit trees. Mr Wigg figured it was best to keep quiet until the storm of pollen had settled.’ Who knew that life on an orchard could be so intriguing?
Simpson tells us the story of an ordinary man in an extraordinary way, casting a light on the little events that make up a life. Whether it is meeting Mrs Wigg at a dance, making strawberry tarts with the children or telling mythical and magical tales about fruit, each moment is beautifully rendered. The outside world intrudes from time to time; his neighbour’s son is drafted for the Vietnam War and the Springbok’s tour is cancelled after protests.
Mr Wigg is poignant, a little sad, but having the still quality of a meditation. It says on the cover that this is, ‘A novel that celebrates the small, precious things in life.’ And so it does. Quietly contemplative, Mr Wigg is about simplicity; taking joy in the moment and each day as it comes. Turn off the computer and read slowly with a peach to hand.