Book Synopsis:
From the Number 1 bestselling author of Our Little Cruelties and Skin Deep
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 . . .
My Review:
Strange Sally Diamond is a dark, absorbing and very emotional read. It’s a book that’s going to be hard to review as I don’t want to give anything away.
Sally is a very interesting main character and one I felt a lot of sympathy for. Her unique way of thinking gets her into trouble at times with her actions at the beginning chilling me to the bone. As the book goes on we discover more about her and slowly unpick her childhood to discover more about why she is like she is. Despite everything my overwhelming feeling whilst reading was one of sympathy and I actually wished I could give her a huge hug as she deals with the aftermath of her actions.
I thought this book was very well plotted and I loved the slow reveal of Sally’s past along with the identity of the male narrator from New Zealand that we hear about periodically. There are some dark and harrowing moments but these weren’t expressly described. Instead the author hints at what is happening and leaves the reader to fill in the blanks.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely be recommending it to others to read. There were lots of twist to keep me guessing and some hard hitting moments that made me gasp. As with most of the authors books it’s one that I’ve continued to think about and unpick long after reading.
Huge thanks to Ellie from Viking for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Liz was born in Dublin in 1967, where she now lives. She has written successfully for soap opera, radio drama, television plays, short stories and animation for children.
Liz’s first novel Unravelling Oliver was published to critical and popular acclaim in March 2014. It quickly became a firm favourite with book clubs and reader’s groups. In November of that year, it went on to win the Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year at the Bord Gais Energy Book Awards and was long listed for the International Dublin Literature Prize 2016. She was also the winner of the inaugural Jack Harte Bursary provided by the Irish Writers Centre and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Dec 2014. Her second novel, Lying in Wait, was published in July 2016 and went straight to number 1 where it remained for seven weeks. Liz won the Monaco Bursary from the Ireland Funds and was Writer in Residence at the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco in Sept/Oct 2016. In Nov 2016, Lying in Wait won the prestigious RTE Ryan Tubridy Listener’s Choice prize at the Irish Book Awards.
Aside from writing, Liz has led workshops in writing drama for broadcast, she has produced and managed literary salons and curated literary strands of Arts Festivals. She regularly does public interviews and panel discussions on all aspects of her writing.
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