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Strange Sally Diamond
“Shocking, disturbing, and utterly original.” —Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author
This “haunting and poignant tale, one that won’t be easy to forget any time soon” (Mystery and Suspense Magazine), follows an enigmatic woman confronting her unknown past—from internationally bestselling author Liz Nugent.
Reclusive Sally Diamond is thrust into the media spotlight when she tries to incinerate her dead father, causing widespread outrage. Now she’s the center of attention, not only from hungry reporters and police detectives, but also a sinister voice from a past she does not remember. As she begins to discover the repressed memories of her horrific early childhood, Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends, 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 he call her Mary? And why does her new neighbor seem to be obsessed with her? Sally’s trust issues are about to be severely challenged in this “truly incredible reading experience” (Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author).
This “haunting and poignant tale, one that won’t be easy to forget any time soon” (Mystery and Suspense Magazine), follows an enigmatic woman confronting her unknown past—from internationally bestselling author Liz Nugent.
Reclusive Sally Diamond is thrust into the media spotlight when she tries to incinerate her dead father, causing widespread outrage. Now she’s the center of attention, not only from hungry reporters and police detectives, but also a sinister voice from a past she does not remember. As she begins to discover the repressed memories of her horrific early childhood, Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends, 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 he call her Mary? And why does her new neighbor seem to be obsessed with her? Sally’s trust issues are about to be severely challenged in this “truly incredible reading experience” (Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author).
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Community Reviews
This book was interesting and twisted. I couldn't put it down! The ending was a tad disappointing though
Sally, our seemingly neurodivergent MC, has quite the upbringing. We follow Sally throughout, learning of her past and how she copes with the struggle of isolation for over four decades. A few surprises to the story toward the end, but I felt myself wishing for more. The entire book was literal—though it seemed the reader was left to imply the outcome of these characters. While it didn’t wrap up with a nice little bow, it still left enough for interpretation.
I really liked this book. It’s not the kind of thing I usually read, but the way it kept surprising me made it hard to put down. Just when I thought I had it figured out, something new would change everything. It made me think a lot about how trauma affects people and how those who’ve been hurt can sometimes end up hurting others. The ending was tough when you find out that Sally slips back into her old ways. I didn’t love the cliffhanger either; after everything she went through, Sally deserved better.
6.5 to 7 stars: This was an interesting tale. I'm not sure what the entire purpose of the book was, except to show how one person can destory so many lives. The parallels in behavior between Sally (Mary) and Steve (Peter) eventhough they had completely different upbringings makes me think of the nature vs nurture debate. Both clearly have emotional and social behavior issues but I belive one is inherently "good" (Sally) while the other is inherently "evil" (Peter). Even if it's not 100% his fault, once Peter realized how bad his father was he still carried on the "tradition" and kept lying to everyone about nearly everything. I wasn't sure about the endings though, I wanted more clousre to the individual stories. Did Peter become his father and kidnap another girl? Did Sally meet her friends and resume her more active lifestyle? And then the epilog with Amanda and that darn bear....
Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me. I read through some of the 4-5 star reviews thinking maybe I just didn’t understand the point of the book. However, I think it just wasn’t my style. The dark parts that everyone mentions didn’t seem dark enough and I couldn’t connect with the characters. The ending fell flat as well and had me wondering what the point of the story was.
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