All in all, this was terrific read. While hard to read at times, it’s also hard to put down. While I would have liked for a different ending, I realize things don’t always work out like they should either. Kind of how Sally realized at the end that her therapist Tina had been wrong about everything- “I was right to trust nobody. They all let me down in the end.” Me too, Sally. Me too…

Jaw-droppingly clever . . . One of the best books I've read in a long, long time. I can't stop thinking about it' Lucy Foley Health Features Could ‘tweakments’ like Botox and filler affect skin health long-term? What the experts want you to know 03:30 When I was a young lad twenty or thirty or forty years ago I lived in a small town where they were all after me on account of what I done on Mrs Nugent. The unwanted attention she garners from the episode with her father results in the unraveling of deep and dark secrets from Sally’s early childhood - a past of which Sally has no memories and has been kept from her by the parents who raised her and is only now being revealed to her through a series of letters left to her by her deceased father - triggering a series of events that has Sally grappling with her truth, questioning everything she has been brought up to believe about herself and trying to emerge from the shadows of her painful past. It won’t be easy because, with the secrets, there are people from her past complicating things further and possibly threatening her physical and mental well-being.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. Liz Nugent: "People have accused me of being brave, but what is namebrave about surviving?" ". www.irishtimes.com . Retrieved 16 May 2020.

I screamed with excitement when I received this book from the publisher. This is a very dark thriller. Sally is an appealing character—strange, yes, but also engagingly literal. Nugent hits exactly the right tone of empathy and optimism." Liz Nugent inks six-figure deal with major US publisher". 14 September 2016 – via www.rte.ie. {{ cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= ( help) Sally, because of all her shortcomings, takes the world quite literally. Her father joked that when he passes she should take him out with the trash. Indeed, that's just what Sally does. It is this incident that draws a huge amount of attention to her: the police, the neighbors, the villagers, and the media. And now Sally will come upon the truths of her actual past. Just who is Sally Diamond and what's been lurking in her past all these years hidden by these over-protective parents? Interestingly, it has more in common with another book by a female author of Irish heritage: Emma Donoghue and her novel Room.Nugent, you thrilled me! But this was not a delightful story. It was dark. It was disturbing. It was compelling. And Sally. What an authentic character. Did you once say you’d feel like a proper writer, having written five books? Does it get easier? Have you changed? As she begins to discover the horrors of her early 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. A] riveting mystery, with puzzles piling up... Nugent's spectacular novel gives us both despair and hope.” A whole world and three distinct characters have been created in this one sentence. Our narrator is aware of the fact that he is an alcoholic, but does Thomas know that the narrator is? Does he know that he is? Where is poor Mr Kelliher going to find a third alcoholic to keep his doors open? A small bar in a country town depending on alcoholics sounds like a sad and desperate place. What a fantastic setup for a story. I promise you that what follows does not disappoint.

Toni Morrison in the documentary Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. Photograph: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders/Magnolia Pictures Another bloody scorcher from ‪Liz Nugent that kept me up to the wee hours to finish. Liz is one of the most intelligent, original, twisty crime writers working in the genre today.” I loved how much Sally changed throughout the book and how much she grew despite her challenges. And although this book is very dark a lot of it was also very heartwarming, especially Sally's voice and internal dialogue. She even had me laughing at parts.You see, we’re first introduced to Sally Diamond, having thrown her recently deceased dad’s remains into an incinerator behind their house, because she has mistaken his instructions on how he would like to be buried: “When I die, just put me out with the trash.” During her time at RTÉ she was commissioned to write an animation series for Irish language TV station TG4 and also wrote a full-length radio play for RTE Radio. She subsequently won a European Broadcasting Union competition for a TV pilot. [1]

Home & Garden Ask Diarmuid Gavin: Can you give me some ideas for plants for an interior courtyard that’s quite dark? 03:30 I really enjoyed Sally's perspective, cared for her, wanted to discover her past and found humour in her inner commentary: They say it takes just three alcoholics to keep a small bar running in a country town and while myself and the cousin, Thomas, were doing what we could, we were a man shy, and these were difficult days for Mr Kelliher, licensee of the North Star, Pearse Street .

Featured Reviews

After Sally finds out what happened to her as a young girl through the letters from her father, her Aunt Christine, and her doctor friend Angela, she begins to learn why she is so “odd”, socially awkward, and anxious. Sally begins therapy sessions with Tina which are very helpful, and she begins making many friends with the neighbors around town. Tense and suspenseful and often creepy, Liz Nugent has delivered a haunting and poignant tale, one that won’t be easy to forget any time soon."