Strange Sally Diamond

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It’s compassionate and challenging, letting us imagine the lives that are forgotten when the news cycle moves on . I enjoyed the book of hers that I read previously, and particularly that she spent time on characterisation, which it sounds like is true of this one too.

Book Review - Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent Book Review - Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

Everything became rushed, the storyline becoming so convoluted that by the time I reached the end I was hopelessly lost. When you read about a person who interacts with the world in a vastly different way than the norm, you find yourself thinking about the demands of society from new perspectives. I loved Sally the best and loved watching her grow up and meeting friends and following her conversations with them. An Irish woman, in her forties, Sally is astonishingly literal-minded, utterly oblivious to irony and sarcasm.But if you're looking for something dark with more nuance and emotive writing, may I direct you to Live to Tell? The spotlight now shines on Sally and we watch her navigate her life from here, gaining knowledge of why she is the way she is. My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it” THOSE were the opening words to “Lying in Wait”, the first book by Liz Nugent to capture my attention, and she has continued to shock me with her dark, twisted stories of dysfunctional families since then.

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent | Goodreads

The twists come at just the right time, and I felt it was a perfectly paced book, building to what for me was a cracking ending. Sally’s early childhood affected her development into an adult, so she struggles with demonstrating emotions and understanding social cues.

Nugent has a talent for creeping into dark minds and portraying it as if the way they think are perfectly reasonable.

Book review: Liz Nugent hits her stride with fifth novel Book review: Liz Nugent hits her stride with fifth novel

When she receives cryptic messages from someone in her past, the truth about her identity will be revealed to the world, forcing new questions to surface that threaten her safety, mental health, and anonymity. The past keeps catching up with the future and she encounters people and information that force her to reckon with familial history. Liz Nugent does a great job of exploring some dark themes, and it would make for a cracking book club discussion.Meanwhile young Louise de Keroualle is being groomed for the job of latest mistress to the now middle-aged “merry monarch” Charles II.