**Wings Above the Mallee**
by Leonie Kelsall

In a gripping tale of resilience and emotional upheaval, bush pilot Amelia Fraser is forcibly uprooted from the rugged beauty of the Outback she simultaneously loves and despises. Having recently endured a devastating personal tragedy, she feels as though she has lost everything—except for her innate compassion. Arriving in the small and tight-knit community of Settlers Bridge, Amelia is resolute in her decision never to allow anyone to penetrate the walls she has built around her heart. The fear of embracing love and potentially replacing the vivid memories of her past terrifies her, driving her to maintain a solitary existence.

Meanwhile, widower Heath Brennan wrestles with his own demons. After the tragic accident that took his wife away from him, he has succumbed to a life of anger and self-recrimination. Heath, once an outgoing and loving husband, has become a virtual recluse, haunted by guilt and grief that refuses to let him go. With unresolved anguish echoing in his heart, he finds it increasingly difficult to navigate his days, often retreating into isolation to avoid confronting his pain.

Adding to the complexity of Heath’s life is his nineteen-year-old daughter, Charlee, who is caught in her own battle against despair. Once a bright and promising student, Charlee has spiralled into the clutches of drug addiction, transforming her into a shadow of her former self. The deep-seated rage she feels towards her father for the death of her mother creates an insurmountable barrier between them, hindering any hope of reconciliation or understanding as they both grapple with loss in isolation.

**Wings Above the Mallee** unfolds as a poignant exploration of loss, love, and the challenging journey toward redemption. In this moving narrative, each character learns that healing a broken heart requires courage and that the first step often involves facing their fears and reaching out to one another.

As I delved into this story, I found many of the characters grappling with profound losses and grief, each in their own distinct manner. Personally, I found the book difficult to read due to my own experiences with loss over the past year, which may have hindered my ability to fully connect with the characters and their struggles. Despite this, I want to emphasize that my difficulties in engaging with the story should not be seen as a reflection of the author's remarkable talent for storytelling. The depth of emotion and complexity woven throughout the narrative is undeniably compelling.

Amelia Fraser is a bush pilot, she’s spent the last three years constantly on the move, and not staying in one place for long. Amelia does have a soft spot for animals and she rescued and cares for a magpie and a possum. Amelia arrives in Settlers Bridge, she’s going to do some temp work for the council and her friend Dr. Taylor Hartmann has organised a hanger to store her plane.

Heath Brennan is a widower, he bought a farm near Settlers Ridge, and because he wanted to get as far away from his past as he could and be closer to his father Sean. Heath is a recluse and he hates leaving his property, and he’s mourning his wife and the life they had together. Charlee is Heath’s nineteen-year-old daughter and she has turned to drugs to numb the pain of losing her mum and to cope and she’s a mess. Heath can’t believe his once beautiful daughter is a shell of her former self and he doesn’t trust her and they barely speak and when they do Charlee pushes his buttons and Sean steps in as a referee.

I received a copy of Wings Above the Mallee by Léonie Kelsall from Allen & Unwin and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This story grabbed my from the first page, I couldn’t wait get to know the characters and discover how the plot would unfold. A narrative about living in a small Australian country town, where everyone is trying to help and pry or get you to join a committee or group, what a heavy burden loss and grief is, finding forgiveness and recovering, dealing with addiction and giving someone a second chance, overcoming a tragedies and being able to move forward.

I really liked how caring for animals and injured wildlife gave Amelia a purpose and she shared this with Charlee, it provides an outlet for their emotions and they heal both themselves and the animals.

Léonie Kelsall writes novel’s that make you think and about topics which one day will affect us all, or someone we know, and she explores the good things in life and like love, friendship and family, and the difficult situations such as death and grief, and in a caring, considerate, insightful and thoughtful way and I highly recommend Wings Above the Mallee and five stars from me.

This is a moving, emotional, heartfelt and heartwarming story all rolled into one, with another visit to Settlers Bridge, one of my favourite places to be we catch up with friends that we know and we meet bush pilot Amelia Fraser and widower Heath Brennan, two people going through grief and hurt, will they find love and happiness together, can two wounded souls help each other, this is a must read.

When Amelia lost everything she ran or flew off in her small plane with her rescue animals Dusty the magpie, and Biggles the possum because they are easy to talk to, she picks up temporary office work and does her best to not get close to people because losing them hurts too much. She finds herself in the small town of Settlers Bridge will this place change her life?

Heath is haunted by the accident that took his wife’s life he has bought a farm in Settlers Bridge and is a recluse, his father Sean and daughter Charlee are there as well but both have their own demons to cope with Charlee is nineteen now and is nothing like the daughter she used to be, struggling with drugs and university, Heath struggles to find a way to make things change, the blame she holds against her father is huge, will this small town and its residents help bring them back to together?

When Heath and Amelia meet when Amelia hangers her plane on their property there is a connection, a small one but when Amelia jumps in to help rescue a lamb things start to move between them and soon she is looking after two lambs, Charlee likes Amelia and this brings Heath and Amelia closer together but there are a lot of hills to climb before they can find the love and happiness that they both deserve there is a lot of pain and grief to unwrap and open up about first, will they get there? And what about Charlee will she find her way to normal again?

I truly loved this one so much Leonie Kelsall writes from the heart her characters are real, honest and so easy to love and I loved Heath, Amelia, Charlee and Sean, there were tears and smiles from me throughout this story, the rescue animals add so much to the story they are the best, but the love that flows from the pages of this story had me turning the pages, I do highly recommend this one, it really is a must read, thank you MS Kelsall for another keeper.

My thanks to the publisher Allen & Unwin for my copy to read and review.

Wings Above the Mallee was a heartfelt emotional story set in the small town of Settlers Bridge in South Australia. Whilst Settler Bridge is fictional, all the other country towns mentioned are real South Australian towns and having lived in country SA before (both the towns were even mentioned), I appreciated the connection.

The story revolves around heavy topics and has a large focus on grief, drug abuse, relationships, connections and finding that spark which makes life living.
The story focusses on newcomers to the town: Amelia, a bush pilot who is escaping a tragedy and doesn't want to get close to anyone or put down roots and Heath, also escaping tragedy, trying to make a fresh start with his father and young adult daughter.

Whilst this was my first read in Settler Bridge and it can be read as a stand alone, I'll be sure to pick up the rest now I know there are others set in the same community.

4.5★s

As Amelia Fraser approached Settlers Bridge from above, her small Jabiru aircraft filled with her few possessions, as well as her rescue animals, she knew she'd only be in Settlers Bridge for a few weeks, then she'd move on. The temp position she'd acquired was enough for now. Landing on the small airstrip on a farm on the outskirts of town, Amelia had no idea that the family who owned the farm would become a pivotal part of her life. Sean was a charming Irish man, whose widower son Heath was a morose, angry and at times downright rude person. While Charlee was a surly, resentful teenager with a drug problem. Swimming in grief, the family were struggling to survive.

When Amelia took on a lamb whose mother had died, then a second one, she added them to her menagerie of Dusty the magpie and Biggles the possum. The animals were her lifeline and helped her focus on something other than her grief. In the meantime, the town and its people surrounded Amelia, so she soon had some people she could call friends. Amelia's compassion, empathy and understanding drew Charlee to her, and in time Heath. In helping to heal these people, could she heal herself? Was it possible to have a happy future and leave the past - but not the memories - behind?

Wings Above the Mallee is another exceptional read by Aussie author Leonie Kelsall which I enjoyed. The small South Australian town of Settlers Bridge, not far from Murray Bridge, has been home to a few of the author's novels - the previous, The Homestead in the Eucalypts - is Taylor's story. Wings Above the Mallee is a story of loss, of heartache and grief, and the steady and sometimes reluctant journey to redemption. Highly recommended.

With thanks to Allen & Unwin AU for my ARC to read and review.

A story of loss, grief, addiction, healing, finding love, learning to trust and mending broken relationships.

Majority of the characters are dealing with a loss or grief of some kind and all in their own different ways - the way Leonie wrote and intertwined their lives and situations was done with a lot of care and truly captured how difficult going through such things are.

I unfortunately just found the rest of the story along with the above just didn’t quite click - there were the RAG meetings which I found repetitive and tedious, there is a petition for a skatepark for the youth of the town, discussions of a petting zoo and just a few other little things that were just a bit much.

If just a couple of these added storylines were taken out, this would have hit the mark.

Leonie Kelsall is quickly becoming one of my favourite rural storytellers, with Wings Above the Mallee a fabulous addition to the Settlers Bridge community.

It was quite different to Kelsall's previous books, in terms of this one being a bit of a heavier read with grief a focus of three of the main characters. But I found this central story of loss, love and being brave to find yourself again heartwarming and I found myself really hoping these characters would find themselves, and happiness, again as the story unfolded.

I really enjoyed the writing style and pace of this one too. The landscape descriptions from Amelia's perspective in her plane were just beautiful. I also adored Amelia's menagerie aspect which added much need lightness and fun.

I definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to Allen & Unwin and NetGalley for a copy to review in advance.

Wings Above the Mallee is a moving story of finding oneself and their ability to move on from previous heartbreak.

The character of Amelia appears a strong woman, not afraid of flying her plane or rescuing animals. But deep down, Amelia hides her pain by moving around to stop the pain from creeping in.

Heath is in a similar situation. He is a recluse due to a trauma he and his daughter suffered and he feels that hiding makes it easier, rather than deal with anyone.

What I loved about this book, was that the animals mentioned in the book brought people together and allowed their emotions to be addressed.

A story of grief and guilt of losing a loved one, and of healing, of finding love and another chance in life to mend a broken heart.

Another great read from an Australia author. I have to binge-read Leonie’s books as I enjoyed reading this one.
Thank you NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for the advance copy.

Wings above the mallee is a powerful take of love, loss and the courage to seek redemption through personal change and growth.

I finished this book a while ago and have been thinking of how to write my review. While I did enjoy it I found it quite emotionally draining as Amelia, Heath and even his daughter Charlee had all been through some devastating times in their lives. I guess that made it easier for them to understand and support each other, eventually.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.