Sally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died.
Now Sally is the centre of attention, not only from the hungry media and worried police, but also a sinister voice from a past she has no memory of. As she begins to discover the horrors of her childhood, recluse Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends, finding independence, and learning that people don’t always mean what they say.
But when messages start arriving from a stranger who knows far more about her past than she knows herself, Sally’s life will be thrown into chaos once again . . .
Book Information: 384 pages. Publisher: Sandycove. Publication Date: 2 March 2023
Before becoming a full-time writer, Liz Nugent worked in film, theatre and television. Her four novels – Unravelling Oliver , Lying in Wait , Skin Deep and Our Little Cruelties have each been Number One bestsellers and she has won four Irish Book Awards, as well as the James Joyce Medal for Literature.
She lives in Dublin.
My Review:
If there is something I have come to expect from a Liz Nugent book it’s that it will be completely twisted, highly original and very, very dark and Strange Sally Diamond is no exception.
This standalone psychological thriller isn’t published until March 2023, but pop it on your wishlist or pre-order it today if you enjoyed her previous books as much as I did.
Meet Sally Diamond, 42 years old, who lives in a small village with her father until he recently died. Viewed by the villages as “strange” and admits to being socially deficient, she’s spent her life pretending to be deaf to avoid conversation. Her father regularly told her to “put me out with the bins, when I die” so when the time came she followed his instructions and that’s when her entire life is turned upside down.
Quirky doesn’t even begin to cover Sally and if you follow my blog you will know how much I adore quirky characters. Sally is brilliant, she’s very naive and matter-of-fact and there is absolutely NO filter when she does decide to talk to people which is either cringe worthy or heart breaking.
Sally discovers after her father’s death that the reason she has no childhood memories up to the age of seven is that she had a traumatic and horrific upbringing and now she is faced with uncovering her past whilst trying to navigate a new life alone and making new friends.
I’m not going to go on much more, except this is everything you would expect from Liz Nugent. Unlikeable characters, plenty of twists, dark and disturbing plotlines, much needed humour for some light relief in the darkness and a heroine you can’t help caring about.
