First up, I think the title of the book may create an expectation that fails to be met, as Connie Starr is one of many wonderful characters in this story and I am not sure that a 'secret world' is actually delivered.
That aside, I did really enjoy this book, particularly the setting, as a resident of Ballarat I really enjoyed the local references and even the shoe store in Bridge St which is still there. I think if I were not a local, perhaps the constant reference to street names and locations may be a little frustrating as I would feel outside the 'loop'.
The story starts just before WWII and centres on the family of the Baptist minister Joseph Starr and his second wife Flora, who has just had a baby Connie, and is step mother to his three older children after their mother passed away. The other character that I loved is Birdie Mabbett, best friend of Flora, who is dealing with her wayward and unfaithful husband Aubrey and her two sons Gabe and Michael.
WWII breaks out and there are some quite bleak and heartbreaking stories that emerge, one of these being an outbreak of polio and the treatments that young children endured to try and keep them alive.
I could go on and on, but I think the book is a treasure of life in rural Victoria through and after WWII. It tells of many aspects and hardships that I had not given too much thought to and shed a light on what life would have been like for my parents and grandparents.
I can recommend this book, but when you pick up the book, don't pay too much heed to the title.
Thank you Harlequin Australia and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4★
‘I’m going to get Connie to help with the grafting,’ Joseph said to Flora. The child needed to learn peacefulness; she was a torrent of tides smashing against each other, sending her off in all different directions at the same time. He worried that if she didn’t learn calmness she would be swept away and drown.”

Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, 1939. Connie Starr is a devilish five-year-old who snoops, eavesdrops, and watches people from a high branch in the family’s unusually tall lemon tree. At least when she’s up there, she’s out of the way, safe (more or less), and not creating mischief. Her father has reason to worry. He’s the local pastor, but he’s damaged and sees her possible darkness, too.

“But Joseph knew that he only achieved gentleness through constant effort, and if you had to work so hard for it, was it real?”

Connie fantasises about angels and demons, sees them above people’s heads, and chats happily with her own archangel who sits on the end of her favourite branch. To me, she’s not really the centre of the story, quirky though she is. I found other people more interesting.

There are several families and associated characters, so I was pleased to see the author included a list called “Connie’s World”. I make no apologies for needing to refer to it a few times just to remind myself which characters were similar ages and who was related to whom.

Connie is the youngest of the neighbourhood kids and tags along with them, getting into trouble playing in the river (no, of course we won’t go in when it’s running so high . . . ) and speaking out loudly and directly about things she’s overheard.

Her family is one of several who feature in their own stories. It is a novel, but there are separate story arcs for the different families. Aubrey Mabbett and his wife and two boys are one such. He’s a shoe salesman who specialises in fitting, selling, and personally delivering shoes to local women, ensuring they fit properly when he visits for a lengthy afternoon stay. Eventually he finds himself with trouble he can’t handle.

I enjoyed all the characters and how they each dealt with the dreadful pressure of the times.

“Gloom was what people woke to and took to bed. The hunger and desperation of the Depression had barely had time to leave people’s bodies. Memories of the last war were fresh and raw. Was it just yesterday? It seemed so. They had been promised it was the war to end all wars. And now here was another one waiting for its moment, greedy and angry and hungry for more young men, and everyone felt the bitterness of having been duped.”

The young men can’t wait to sign up when war is declared while the women, who have been struggling to create meals from very little during the Depression now have to cope with rationing as well. I remember a friend once telling me that, during the war, her mother-in-law was said to be able to feed the family with a potato and an onion. Not something my friend hoped to have to live up to! (Dare I say perhaps a grain of salt should be involved?)

“On the front lines boys’ blood gathered in ponds on brown soil, then ran like rivers to the sea, where it dribbled to the ocean floor. The boys cried out for their mothers as they died on the damp earth and in the wet seas and in the grey skies over Europe. ‘The Courier ‘was careful to follow government instructions and didn’t report the torn skin or the burnt organs or the dismembered bodies. It reported that artillery fought valiantly, submarines launched strategic attacks, and planes heroically defended the skies, and for the sake of mothers and lovers it didn’t mention the boys who manned this war equipment.”

The book goes from 1939 to 1952, so we get a chance to see what happens to everyone in Ballarat, Darwin and beyond. I didn’t care for Connie’s particular story arc, and I’m not sure her acceptance of some things is explained well enough. But as I said, I think other characters are stronger and more interesting, and this is well worth a read.

I enjoyed the writing and the sense of time and place and many of the characters. Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for the copy for review.

4.5★s
“Connie gave the things of life no thought at all. Instead she was separated from the world and all the people she knew in it and she watched them go about their lives from her special hidden spot in the lemon tree as if the people below were ants scurrying about without any realisation of how small and insignificant they were.”

The Secret World of Connie Starr is the second novel by Australian author, Robbi Neal. Connie Starr is only five when the war begins, but an intelligent and very observant five. The lemon tree her father, a Baptist Pastor plants just before she is born is one of her observation posts from which she spies on her corner of Ballarat, while also seeing above her the demons who wreak havoc, and angels who fight them.

As the world enters into war, once again, the effects on her country and her town manifest in a myriad of ways, many of which Connie finds annoying: rationing means treats are scarce, especially when her mother Flora invites so many of those less well off to share their meagre fare; her mother’s ability to calm the distressed sees her forced to give up her bed to unhappy wives.

While Connie is not a direct witness to all that is suffered, Ballarat also feels the absence of those husbands and sons who go to war. And the later influx of Us Marines on R&R is not welcomed by all. Families battle on without their provider as best they can, with ingenuity and resourcefulness. Of course the war takes a huge toll: many sons and husbands killed, others missing in action, or repatriated mentally and physically broken; few return unchanged.

Spanning almost twenty years the story easily evokes the feel of the small rural Australian city that often feels more like a village, during the war years and their aftermath. Neal gives the reader a large cast of characters but, by the conclusion, the reader is invested in each of their fates, for example, grieving with and later cheering on Birdie, feeling disgust for Aubrey’s behaviour, sad at Joseph’s despair at his inability to keep his children safe, and shock at the revenge a damaged refugee exacts.

The comparison of this novel to Sarah Winman’s Still Life is valid, and it’s a high compliment to say that the story and characters are also reminiscent of Maeve Binchy’s work, with the lives of many characters told in vignettes and snippets that weave into each other. But blurb is a little misleading, giving the impression that Connie occupies the central role when, while she is an integral part, the lives of many other community members take turns at centre stage.

As a protagonist, Connie comes across as wilful and prickly, imaginative and given to misbehaviour, ultimately a tragic figure, but unfortunately not terribly likeable. Luckily, many of the other characters more than make up for her, and their joy and sorrows will bring a tear to the eye, a lump to the throat. Compelling, emotional and sometimes quite dark, this is a beautifully written tale.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley, Better Reading Preview and HQ Fiction

Connie Starr was born to parents, Joseph and Flora, in 1934 Australia in the small town of Ballarat, Victoria. Connie was Flora’s first child as she was Joseph’s second wife and he had three children from his first marriage – Danny, Lydia and Thom. Joseph was a Baptist minister and Flora was the perfect wife and companion for him. But when Connie entered their lives, life changed for the family.

As time moved forward and the family members grew, war came to Australia with the attack on Darwin. Thom was among many who enlisted and the locals that the Starr family knew lost loved ones. Connie’s time on the branch of the lemon tree in their yard, as she viewed the world, saw her also viewing the angels and devils who were swirling above. Joseph and Flora took in many a stray to the manse, feeding them before they moved on – the Depression had hit hard - which impacted Connie's childhood - and rationing was making things worse. Connie was a strange and different child, growing to a woman, and she held many secrets…

The Secret World of Connie Starr is my first by Aussie author Robbi Neal and it was a mostly uncomfortable read which I have mixed feelings about. The story of Australia from the mid 30s to mid 50s is evocative and poignant, with many characters; friends, family and enemies. At times I had to stop reading to work out how a particular character fitted, before I moved on. There wasn’t any character which stands out in my mind – but I love the cover of the book. It’s what drew me to it initially. There have been varied ratings to this book and I’m disappointed I didn’t like it more.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

The Secret World Of Connie Starr by Robbi Neal has five stars for me! It has the Wow! factor with incredible character development with a story that touches the heart - there is joy, despair, laughter and immense sadness.


Set in Ballarat, Australia between 1934 including World War II and taking us to the post war period up until 1952. It gives a fantastic depiction of life at the time with the backdrop of the war and world events. The characters of the town of Ballarat are simple country town folk who deal with life and death through this period. The reader is taken into the fold and it is hard not to become involved in all that happens.

The writing style is absolutely magnificent. The descriptions come alive and give such depth to the story.

This is one poignant description:

“It was almost Christmas and still the world was at war. So much for peace and goodwill. The world was an asphalt schoolyard where a small push could result in a bloody knee.”

And another one:

“Politicians bickered and parried and the League of Nations took action and told the Soviet Union they were out of the gang if they didn’t stop their hostilities towards poor Finland.”


Highly recommended literary read.


This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher Harlequin Australia via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Any quotes are subject to change with the final publication.

Firstly I must say here is another long book (464 pages) which I am getting a bit annoyed with. I find these long books seem to be padded out and overly lengthy and would be much better if shortened. Don't get me wrong, I don't mine a long book it it can keep my interest but this was not one of those books.

I also found it somewhat hard to read, a bit depressing and at times got a bit boring. I do like the fact it is Australian Historical Fiction, the layout with the shorter chapters kept it flowing to a point but the characters fell a bit flat for me.

Overall an okay book but not one I can say I really enjoyed reading.

3/5

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin AU for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

At first, I really struggled to get into this book. I couldn’t see where Connie fitted in to the story and why the book was named for her. Throughout most of the book we got snippets here and there about Connie, her struggles to cope in a strict religious household, her defiance and her imagination. She is an interesting character, and her story is compelling and emotional.

Despite the character-driven title, the book is more a peek into 1930-1950 Australia and covers a lot of heavy topics including domestic violence, religion, war, death and illnesses such as polio.

I think that if the book was more focused on a few characters, rather than a lot, I might have enjoyed it more. But I liked how it was written, with short chapters and simple prose. Overall, this book is a great Australian historical fiction with lots to be learned and reflected on.

Set in Australia in Ballarat, Victoria mostly during World War Two. Connie Starr is born in 1934, her father Joseph is a Baptised Reverend. Her mother Flora is his second wife. Joseph had three children in a previous marriage. Thom, Lydia and Danny.
During the war years the Starr family welcomed people in need into their home and provided meals and a place to rest to anyone in need.
This was about life in a small town during the war years and into the early 1950's. Connie spends her days sitting high in her lemon tree watching her family, friends and neighbours go about their daily life. It tells her story and the stories of her brothers and sister and other local families.

Firstly, thank you @HarlequinAustralia and @Netgalley for the copy of this book.
Where to begin in reviewing this book… definitely an epic read and I think if I was reading a physical copy it would be a chunker. An interesting portrayal of the inner life of war time women in Australia. I kept reading and waiting for something to happen but as time went on I realised the point of the story is that nothing and everything is happening all at the same time, Much like real life, the mundane continues on even in a crisis. An enjoyable read but a bit slow going at times.

As Connie Starr is born screaming her head off in Ballarat in 1934, her mother, Flora, knows that there will be “more chaos in the world than before,” and Connie will be at the heart of it.

Connie is both capricious and ethereal, yet she can also be sneaky, mischievous, and embarrassingly frank as she observes her family and their friends from her perch in a lemon tree where she communes with angels and demons.

Her father is Joseph, a Baptist minister who struggles to contain Connie and her siblings, Thom, Lydia, and Danny, as they try to forge their own paths in life. The ups and downs of other families—the Mabbetts, the Mitchells and the Finchleys—criss-cross with the Starrs, creating an enthralling patchwork of human drama set against a background of war and its after-effects.

Each character’s story is beautifully delineated, whether it is Thom’s misplaced determination to be different, Lydia’s starstruck romance with an American serviceman, or Flora’s sense of “the unfilled places in people’s souls” as she supports Birdie Mabbett through grief and her trials with a philandering husband. When Connie herself falls prey to one of her demons, everyone binds together to protect her.

The research on everything from wartime rationing to polio treatment to religion and politics wears the lightest of touches, yet the historical evocation of time and place is one of the best I’ve read in a long time. Plus, the morality and societal attitudes are honest and faithful to 1940s/1950s Australia, which makes it even more believable. Connie’s secret world is definitely memorable and worthy of your time. (If this novel receives the success it deserves, Ballarat might need to prepare for an influx of fans keen to visit the real locations.)

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for an uncorrected reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This wonderful novel takes place in 1930’s-1950’s Ballarat Australia. The story describes the lives of the Baptist Church parishioners centring on the parish ministers family the Starrs.

What follows is an intermit delve into the intertwining story’s of the lives of these parishioners before, during and after World War Two. Describing a sometimes dreamlike and other times hardened reality of life in Australia at the time.

This novel evokes feelings of sorrow, fear, heartbreak, laughter and moments of pure joy. Much how we would feel these and more in a life time.

My favourite part of this book is how the story is told. Not only do we get wonderfully curated descriptions of nature and grit of war and the deep darkness of thought but we hear from everyone. The is not one narrator. All the characters get a chance to tell their story. And they are magically intertwined within chapters, pages and scenes.

Neal has created a novel that is the perfect way to delve into an Australian past and live the lives of a small set of wonderfully simple and complex people.

Widower Joseph Starr is married to younger Flora and he has three children from his first marriage, Thom, Lydia and Danny. In 1934, Flora gives birth to a baby girl, Connie arrives in a hurry and is delivered at home by her father. Flora has difficulty bonding with her new baby, Connie’s hard to settle and can a baby be angry with the world?

The Secret World of Connie Starr is historical saga set in Australia during 1939 to 1952 and it covers a wide range of subjects and social issues and what life was like in Australia during the depression and the Second World War.

Connie spends most of her time sitting on a branch of the family’s lemon tree in the backyard in Ballarat, talking to the angels and day dreaming. Connie’s quirky, different and she struggles to make friends at school. When the Second World War breaks out, Connie’s doesn’t know what to make of all the talk about fighting, men signing up, rationing and everyone tightening their belts!

Her father’s a baptist minister, the family live frugally, they have always helped people in need and Connie wears her sisters hand me downs. The Japanese bomb Darwin, the war is on home soil, it effects relationships with in the Starr family and Connie is easily mislead.

I received a copy of The Secret World of Connie Starr by Robbi Neal from NetGalley and Harlequin Australia in exchange for an honest review. While I did enjoy the story, I thought it would focus more on Connie and most of the narrative seemed to be based around other characters in the book. The information about the war and the polio treatment in Australia was interesting, and how the war effected soldiers, their parents and some even abandoned their wives, and four stars from me.

My rating:

Plot: 4 out of 5 stars
Writing: 3 out of 5 stars
Character development: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Recommended for readers of:

Women’s Fiction
General Fiction



Review:
This book has interesting quirky and colourful characters, who each have a story to tell. The main character is Connie Starr and her family. Set in the Victorian town of Ballarat during the late nineteen thirties till the early nineteen fifties in difficult times, the book explores how a small community deals with the tragic effects of war, disease, religion and conforming to the small community mentality and morale. Specially interesting is how the different characters handle this. A interesting and original story.

Review copy provided by NetGalley at no cost to me.

The anchor of this enchanting and haunting story is Connie Starr. She is different from the day she was born and she sees angels and demons and the world around her so much more than other people

It’s a complex tale set in the days before, during, and after WWII and set in the town of Ballarat. The weather is described so well that the heat of a Victorian summer hits your skin as well as the contrasting cold of the winter.
Connie is only one story, there are many others, but they all come back to Connie’s family. There are tragedies and triumphs, losses and gains and I never wanted the story to end. Each character has a tale to tell and even when they are unlikeable they are still people.

The writing is easy to read but paints intricate portraits and landscapes with words.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel and highly recommend it.

With thanks to #NetGalley and #HarlequinAustralia for the eARC of #TheSecretWorldOfConnieStarr

The setting is the rather small Australian country town of Ballarat from 1939-1952, with a population just big enough that you recognise most of the people in town even if you don’t actually know them all.

The story follows the complexities of the lives of several families in the district who are more closely connected, mostly through their local Baptist church, and centres around the Minister, Joseph Starr and his family.

Joseph’s first wife died giving birth to their third child, leaving him feeling hopelessly alone and struggling to raise their three children.
It wasn’t very long before he found himself smitten with a much younger woman, Flora…who he was sure would make the perfect wife and mother to his children…and as luck would have it, his feelings were reciprocated.
When Flora went into labour at home with their first child, Joseph was there to help with the delivery…having already fathered three healthy children he was confident that they could manage without a doctor.
A healthy little girl was delivered and Joseph tended to mother and child with gentle loving care.
Being her first child, Flora was still in a bit of shock at the whole business and struggled to bond with the child…who seemed to her to be feeling the same way…as the child would not take to her breast for feeding, instead just lying there staring at her mother.
They named the girl Connie and tried to all settle into a normal family life together, though there seemed to be an undercurrent of resentment from the older children towards their new mother and baby Connie.

The story follows this family and their day to day interactions closely with other families and neighbours and members of Joseph’s loyal congregation, so that we watch them all as they grow and share their life experiences, big and little, as they all grow between 1939-1952.
The timeframe has the reader taking a deeper look into the dynamics of ordinary Australian family lives during the time when the war broke out and the people struggled with the myriad consequences.
As men were called to service…with many younger men volunteering prematurely…
food and resources were rationed and mothers and daughters did whatever they had to do to make ends meet without a breadwinner or, in many cases no income.
Life went on all the same and did not spare the rod for those at home or at war, as hardship continued to play its role in this town.

Like other readers I was reminded of stories like The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham, Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet, and Craig Silvey’s Jasper Jones to name just a few.
I would recommend this book for lovers of the above style.
To me the story had a feel of Australian Noir about it…shades of light and dark.
There is some fine writing here and some nice turns of phrase, and once involved, I found it to be a very compelling read.
4⭐️s

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy to read and review.

I began reading this book on Anzac day, not realising its contents or where the story being told was situated.

I enjoyed the fiction mixed in with the actional non fiction events that made the story even more powerful.

War, love and loss with the addition of cruelty and sadness makes this book a must read! You will laugh and you will cry and will make you think of how hard it must of been for Australians at war and the women left behind to manage with no money and no jobs and their children to take care of.

A powerful story and a must read!

If you cast your mind back quite some decades, specifically the middle swathe of the twentieth century, your overwhelming impression is of impressively impervious social cohesion and conformity, bolstered by church and state in resolute lockstep and a populace all too happy to toe the line and make sure that any wavering souls do the same.

And while that’s true to a great extent, it’s by no means the whole story with a great many people caught up in situations from terrible marriages to abusive situations to closeted sexuality and on and on, all of them prisoners of a moral orthodoxy that brookes no obvious dissent.

That doesn’t mean people back in the day didn’t push the envelope with fierce rebelliousness because of course they did, but by and large they made sure that any bucking of societal mores happened well out of sight and thus, hopefully out of mind.

Alas Connie Starr, the titular protagonist of The Secret World of Connie Starr by Robbie Neal never got the memo, because from the day she is born to young mother named Flora, second wife of kindly but emotionally conflicted Baptist pastor Joseph, in 1934, Connie, or Constance to give her her full Christian name, does not even remotely march to the beat of anyone’s drum but her own, highly idiosyncratic one.

Her willingness to buck any and every trend, and make no secret of the fact that she is doing so, is evident to her mother immediately, her baby evincing every sign of not going with the flow from day one, no, minute one.

A free spirit when they are not exactly thick on the ground or top of the popularity stakes, Connie starts as she means to go on, as does Neal who in the captivating first chapter writes with an emotional poetry and warm accessibility which firmly establishes how out of the mainstream Connie is and how that makes her a lonely outlier in a world of people who feel they have no choice but to conform to the strictures of the time.

The beauty of The Secret World of Connie Starr is that it pulls back the curtains to reveal that almost everyone is, some way or shape, trapped in an unwanted prison of society or the church’s making. (They all know they are caught in these constrained roles too but none can see a way out that wouldn’t involve bringing a whole world of condemnation down upon them.)

For some this is no real burden; Flora, for instance, may not necessarily have her every emotional need met, especially as step-mum to three kids (Thom, Lydia and Danny) and mother to a quirky daughter who’s an emotional island in many respects, but Joseph treats her well and she intuitively senses that losing any real voice in the relationship is worth the cost since she has security, safety and standing in the community as the minister’s wife.

By way of contrast, Lydia and Danny, for wholly different reasons respectively, are stuck in roles not of their choosing, unable to be who they really want to be in a world that does not look kindly on those who might be tempted to exercise some existential authenticity.

The main focus though, as it should be, is on Connie who sees angels and demons warring in the skies and on buildings around her and who finds herself always on the outer, forever saying what comes to her mind even though she knows she should be using the same internal edit button as everyone around her (a problem however you slice it but even more so when because of your family, you are tightly wound up in the church which yields the least of all places).

The irony is that many of the people around her are as eager to be free-spirited and unconstrained as Connie but they know the true cost of speaking your mind and to use thoroughly modern turn of phrase beloved of Oprah and the like, “living your truth”, and stay within their assigned lanes, for the most part.

The events of The Secret World of Connie Starr, which take place from the mid-thirties through to the early fifties with a particular focus on the horrors of World War Two and the effect it has on Connie’s hometown of Ballarat, and the Baptist church at its heart, cast an incriminating light on the way in which conformity costs those caught in its web.

What it also does though is assure those who may step outside the lines that there is a place for them; people like Birdie, trapped in an abusive marriage to a philandering man, who may not have too much room to manoeuvre but who strikes out nevertheless; watching Birdie slowly but surely assert her independence and sense of self is one of the quiet but emotionally powerful joys of this insightful, beautifully written novel.

If you have ever felt like you never fit the narrow world around you then Connie is your heroine.

Not because she does anything dramatic nor changes the town for the better, Anne of Green Gables or Pollyanna-like, but because she persists and hangs in through a welter of misunderstandings, horrific trauma and a gross lack of appreciation of who she is and that simply because she is innately wired to challenge the system with an honesty of self so close to the surface that she cannot begin to hide it, she somehow resists being permanently ruined (though the hurt when it occurs is grievous and lasting so she’s not immune to brokenness).

Sure, her wired-in outlier status makes it harder for anyone to get really near, although that begins to change towards the end of the back as those who truly have her back make their presence known, but she has a truthfulness about her that makes her an appealing protagonist who voices what others are thinking and often doing behind the scenes.

In the end what makes this intimate novel of love and connection, brokenness and societal entrapment so evocative, as it depicts Australia in the decades that gave birth only twenty or so years later to the hedonistic openness of the sixties and seventies, is the way in which it celebrates the inherent wonder and beauty of being different, willing to admit there is as much to be gained as lost from being wholly and wholeheartedly yourself.

A richly poetic, emotionally luminous novel that recreates and brings alive a long-gone Australia full of love and inclusion but loss, grief and cruel exclusion too, The Secret World of Connie Starr is a gem of a read, a story of a one young woman (and her lemon tree) destined to push the boundaries whose unique story is told with honesty, hope, and quiet emotional incisiveness which warms your heart, even at the bleakest of points, because all the way through Connie remains Connie, whatever the cost, and you can’t help but love her deeply and always for it.

Thanks NetGalley for my copy of the secret world of Connie Starr. At first I struggled with this book - not quite understanding where Connie fitted into this historical account of life in Ballarat and the people there pre, during and post war. But all of sudden I was drawn in to the history and then couldn’t put the book down. A fascinating account of the affects of war, religion, racism and small town attitudes.

I highly recommend this book

Set in Ballarat, Victoria, this is the story of two main families, the Mabbetts and the Starrs during the World War Two years. Narrated in a deceptively simple style, it is written in short chapters that keep the reader totally engaged. What made it further poignant was that I read it while the war on Ukraine is still raging which made the behaviour and emotions of the characters so visceral. There is a lot to this story which I found both profound and moving. Recommended reading.

This tale resonated with my memories of Cloudstreet.
Set in Ballarat around the time of the second world war, the characters are boldly drawn and beautifully depicted.
Connie Starr is the central character with her strange ability to see angels and demons.
Her family features strongly but other families add to the weaving of the story.
I enjoyed the way the story is constructed. It is quite a long book.
If you're a fan of Cloudstreet, Boy Swallows Universe or similar books, this will probably be an enjoyable read for you.