Liz Nugent
Sally Diamond would only have been strange if she hadn’t turned out how she had.
It was a story about kidnap and abuse, neglect and isolation. Doesn’t sound good, does it?! I had to read this book in a similar way to reading a magical fantasy story and accept it all on face value without thinking too deeply about the ‘could it actually happen?’ aspect, or I would not have wanted to turn the pages. I protected what little sleep I manage between hot flushes and loo visits by divorcing myself a bit from the harshness of it.
The subject matter is abhorrent and the story is difficult to read. It’s certainly not a light hearted satire. I have always read a lot; I read voraciously and from every genre (although I do love a good murder!), but I have never read anything like this before. It’s certainly a one-off. Some of my book club compatriots would say, “Thank Heavens for that!”
Many aspects of the main character, Sally, reminded me of Eleanor of Eleanor Olphant is Completely Fine, who came across as being very forthright and, arguably, neural divergent. However, this is no syndrome or condition from birth and she certainly was not as hilarious as I found Eleanor’s incredibly incisive observations. Sally D’s characteristics were created by the terrible manipulation of the people in her life that should have cared most for her.
I felt so dreadfully sorry for her. Her life started in the worst of possible circumstances and once she was ‘saved’ she became witness to more horror and then isolated again until the death of her father. I found most of it difficult to believe, thank goodness. The two main characters were as important as each other. Possibly the brother’s story was even more important and difficult to read than Sally’s, used to illustrate something that is one of the hardest things to understand about abuse victims: how the abused becomes the abuser. It was completely chilling.
Like Eleanor Oliphant, Sally’s thought processes were so well presented, often in a fairly amusing way, and I loved that so many people wanted to help her adjust to the new circumstances that kept cropping up in Sally’s life. I’d like to think in real life she wouldn’t have been left merely to the mercy of those who decided to take an interest in her. I’d like to imagine our mental health professionals would become involved and the isolation that took her into adulthood would not have been allowed to happen.
It was a masterclass of darkness which kept me flipping pages to the end. But one can’t review this book without discussing the finale. I’ve rarely felt so disconsolate about the concluding chapters of a story. I’m old school, I grew up on Cinderella, Magic Faraway Tree, Scooby-Doo, White Christmas and Calamity Jane. I need a happily ever after. I need to know I’ve left my characters to have a good safe life in the arms of the one they love, hopefully with a bulging bank balance and the bad guy behind bars, fuming and waving his fist, shouting “I’ll get you, you pesky kids!” That didn’t happen and it made the whole story leading up to that moment implode in my brain and I was left gaping and wondering if I could complain to the author. All the hopes for Sally and co… gone.
If you read this book, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
So what did the Book Club think? One of our club members hated every moment. Others said they hated the genre, the characters and the ending. One member really didn’t like it, but couldn’t stop reading it. I agree: it’s a page turner and certainly a good one for book clubs. Some book discussions fizzle out, but we discussed it once, then went back to discussing it later. It is definitely food for thought, especially if you allow yourself to realise stuff like this could happen, has happened and could happen again.
Although we all hated the storyline (What sane person could find it uplifting?), we all finished it, all had things to say, and only one of us gave it under 7/10. Unusually, nobody gave it more than 8 though. In total, we gave it 50 out of 70 which equals just over 7/10 on average. We agreed it left itself open for a follow-on, but none of us felt inclined to read it if it appears. In short, as much as we pitied Sally and wanted things to end well for her, none of us grew to know and love her. We’re a lovely bunch, the Between the Covers girls, and we do like to like our characters.
Thank you to Edna for hosting, for all the BTC ladies for the wonderful food and hilarious company, and a special shout out to Carol for ably demonstrating the Fosbury Flop.
Our next book is Book 1 of The Chichester Murders: The Dead Beneath Us. It’s set in the “heart of West Sussex”. It’ll be fun to see if we recognise the area as it appears in the book.
Read along with us and let us know what you think!
“The child intuitively comprehends that although these stories are unreal, they are not untrue.” ― Bruno Bettelheim
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