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Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent
My rating: 5/5
Publisher: Sandycove
Publication date: 2nd March 2023
Blurb:
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 police detectives, but also a sinister voice from a past she cannot remember. As she begins to discover the horrors of her childhood, Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends and big decisions, and learning that people don't always mean what they say.
But who is the man observing Sally from the other side of the world? And why does her neighbour seem to be obsessed with her? Sally's trust issues are about to be severely challenged...
Review:
When I read Our Little Cruelties a couple of years ago, I knew instantly that Liz Nugent would be my type of author. It has been a while since I've had such a quick and easy five star read but with Strange Sally Diamond she has done it again!
Sally Diamond is in her early forties and after her father Tom dies, she does what he told her to do which was put him out with the rubbish. She took that literally and put him in the incinerator.
Tom was actually Sally's adoptive father and we learn rather quickly that Sally isn't perhaps like everyone else. She is emotionally and developmentally behind. After Tom's death, Sally finds out the truth about her early childhood years as she cannot remember anything prior to her seventh birthday.
When journalists and press get wind of who she is, she receives a package in the post of a very particular teddy bear. Who sent it to her and why are they trying to contact her?
Liz Nugent really pulls at your heartstrings with the character of Sally. When I first started reading, she reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant (from Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine) who is one of my favourite book characters.
I enjoyed the use of a POV switch between Sally now and Peter back in the 70s/80s. All the clues are there and drip fed to us so we assume what is happening before a confirmation and I LOVE that in a book.
Although the story of Sally and her past is quite sad, Nugent's humour shines through. Special mention to, "And your quiche is shite!"
A very easy five stars from me.
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A massive thank you to Penguin for having me on the blog tour. The information about the other bloggers taking part in the tour is in the graphic below.
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