Melina Marchetta's "The Piper's Son"

Has anyone read this? I borrowed it off my mum quite a few months ago and am about a quarter of the way through, but I am hating reading it and am really struggling trying to get through it....does it get any better or should I just stop now and quit before I waste more precious reading time on a crappy book?

I'm quite surprised I've found it this hard to read, I loved Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca and On The Jellicoe Road. It feels like she's writing in a completely different style and I'm finding it hard to understand where everything fits in and what exactly the story line is.

I haven't read any of them, but apparently this one follows on from Saving Francesca. Don't forget her 4th novel was a YF fantasy Finnikin of the Rock. Maybe that has affected her style??