Sarah Kanowski

She was the youngest, much-loved member of her family, especially adored by her grandma and her three aunts.

Sita's family all belonged to the Baha'i faith, and growing up, Sita prayed to God every morning and every night and did her best to be good.

She got married young to another Baha'i, became a mum to three kids, worked a regular and responsible job teaching high school.

But despite following all the rules, life had some big surprises in store for Sita.

And going through them, she discovered the exhilaration of making her own choices.

Sita had the chance to replace what she had been taught was right with what she wanted.

It turns out what she wanted, including eating biscuits first thing in the morning, falling in love and writing.

Her first book was the memoir, The God of No Good.

And her new book is a novel called In a Common Hour.

Hi, Sita.

Hi, Sarah.

If you close your eyes, Sita, and think about that house in Toowoomba, what do you see?

What things was your mum, Fahri, in charge of at home?

What was her domain?

Was she good in a crisis, your mum, the sort of little domestic crisis that happened in her family all the time?

So apart from his focus on the good lounge, what kind of presence was your dad at home?

So dad is a very particular man.

It seems from reading your book, Sita, that he's really an affectionate father.

What term does he use to describe you?

So your mum came from a Baha'i family, but your father converted, which would have been very unusual for a white family.