Strange Sally Diamond

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent 
7/30/24; 320 pages
Gallery/Scout Press

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent is a very highly recommended psychological thriller following flawed characters and dysfunctional families.

Sally Diamond was caring for her dying father who always told her when he was gone she should put him out with the trash. Sally, who is in her early forties and takes everything very literally, does just that, and since they burn their trash she tried to burn her father's body. This thrust her into the limelight, with the police and the media because it also brought forth her background and the reason why she can't remember events before she was seven years old.

After a very traumatic early childhood, Sally was adopted by her father, Thomas, a psychiatrist, and her physician mother who passed away years ago. Sally often tells others that she knows she is socially deficient, but she does have a few friends through her father that she trusts. She learns that her father left her three letters to read after his death, so Sally follows the advice to slowly read them one week at a time. They are supposed to help explain why she is the way she is, someone who doesn't like to talk to people, never cries, and loves playing the piano, however someone from her past is also contacting her, calling her "Mary," and sends her a toy bear she immediately recognizes.

Strange Sally Diamond starts out feeling like a familiar novel, but everything dramatically changes after part one. The narrative moves back and forth in time between two different perspectives that provide incredible insight into her background but also expands the story into an even darker, traumatic tale. As Sally tries to talk to people and make her way in the world, she learns that people don't always say what they mean and you can't always say everything to them.

The writing is excellent and Sally is a fully realized, complicated, and sympathetic character. The supporting cast of characters are realistic and add a depth to the plot as they help Sally navigate her way through increasing her social interactions. There is another character who is also fully realized, although not sympathetic. It isn't always easy novel to read as the topics handled are horrific and show how evil people can be. It also shows that there are good people who care and can be trusted in the world.

The big change in the narrative transformed Strange Sally Diamond from an expected plot projection to something entirely different that showed the darker side of human nature. Strange Sally Diamond held my complete attention to the end. This might be a good choice for book clubs who appreciate deep discussions about human nature and evil in the world. Thanks to Gallery/Scout Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Festival

The Festival by Louise Mumford
7/30/24; 336 pages
HarperCollins/HQ

The Festival by Louise Mumford is a highly recommended thriller/mystery.

Libby who is till dealing with her complicated feelings after her mother's death agrees to go out to a club with her best friend, Dawn. Unbelievably, Libby wins two tickets to the Solstice, a music festival on Midsummer’s Eve in Wales at the Blakes family farm. This is a huge event for those who like to go to these sorts of music festivals. It was started by Abel Blake along with his mother Ma Blake, and brother Silas. Dawn is thrilled about the tickets and talks Libby, who is hesitant, into going. It turns out to be a huge mistake.

The narrative unfolds in dual time narratives and includes mixed media stories. After a strong start, the plot becomes uneven and heads down a bumpy road. I wasn't thrilled with the folklore/superstition/mysticism parts of the story which were off-putting. In the mix is a twenty-year-old mystery that becomes very important. The reveals are huge and drama is over-the-top at the height of the final scenes. I had to suspend disbelief several times. 

This is a fast-paced summer read, although it did confirm a music/solstice festival will never interest me. The final denouement raised my opinion of the whole plot as it is actually uplifting and positive. Thanks to HarperCollins/HQ for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp

Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp by Michelle Moran
7/30/24; 320 pages
Random House

Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp by Michelle Moran is a very highly recommended real story of Maria von Trapp's life and how it contrasted with the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. Most people know the story according to the musical, however that doesn't portray the true, real life events.

In the 1950s, Oscar Hammerstein is writing the lyrics to a new Broadway musical based on the life of Maria von Trapp. When Maria saw the script supposedly based on her life, she headed to talk to Hammerstein to set the record straight. Maria ends up meeting with his secretary, Fran, who meets with Maria several times to hear her real life story. Fran dutifully writes down all of Maria's concerns to give to Hammerstein and the two strike up an unlikely friendship.

Nostalgia runs high in Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp. Some readers interested in this novel will already be acquainted with some of the true events in Maria's life. Moran does an excellent job telling the real story which also serves to show why the choices were made to write the play as it was.

The narrative alternates between Maria recounting her life story to Fran and Fran's life leading up to the Broadway opening of the play. Maria wasn't as perfect as depicted in the play and Georg wasn't quite as stern in real life. The complete, true story is much more compelling, complicated, and difficult than the movie version. The movie does contain some of the real events in their lives.

After she saw the play, Maria thoughtfully commented that it wasn't exactly their life story, "But our love for God and family was there, and this is what has always been most important." As Moran hoped, this novel truly is like a plate of warm, sweet cookies baked by your grandmother and it will renew any obsession you have with The Sound of Music. Thanks to Random House for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Woman Who Lied

The Woman Who Lied by Claire Douglas
7/30/24; 400 pages
HarperCollins

The Woman Who Lied by Claire Douglas is a recommended psychological thriller.

Emilia Ward lives with her second husband, Elliot, their son Wilfie, and Jasmine, her teenage daughter from her first marriage. She is also the bestselling author of the Miranda Moody detective novels who is about to publish her 10th book in the series. Then strange things begin to happen and Emilia suddenly becomes aware that the incidents resemble scenes from her books. As it continues, she begins to become concerned for the safety of her family. Once something from her current unpublished novel occurs, she realizes that whoever is doing this is among her trusted group of friends.

The narrative follows Emilia in the present day, excerpts from her latest book, and later, a third story line. Emilia's concern for her family is real. Along the way, Douglas includes plenty of red herrings and clues to follow that point to the guilt of different characters. The multiple story lines all come together at the end, but for me this wasn't a successful plot device. At first the pacing seemed slow for a thriller, but it does pick up. I enjoyed the thriller, but not as much as other novels Douglas has written. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Summer Club

The Summer Club by Hannah McKinnon
7/23/24; 336 pages
Atria/Emily Bestler Books

The Summer Club by Hannah McKinnon is a highly recommended domestic drama. I'm recommending this as a title for older YA readers. Certainly the subject matter is for a more mature teen, but the teens in this novel are the focus.

The exclusive Mayhaven Club offers members golf, tennis, a beach, and restaurant. Ned Birch is the president of Mayhaven, which basically means he's the general manager who handles the running of the club, although the board of directors, especially Dick Delancey, like to have their hands in it too. His wife, Ingrid, has started working as a realtor again. Their two children are Darcy, 17, and Adam, 15. Darcy is working as a summer camp counselor at Mayhaven. She was an excellent golfer well on her way to earning a college scholarship for it, but she suddenly announced she was giving up golf. Ned has set up a job for Adam, who is neurodivergent, at Mayhaven using his strength with numbers.

Moving in next door to the Birches is Flick Creevy, 17, his mother, Josie, and stepfather, Stan. Stan likes to flaunt his wealth with noisy pool parties and the huge RV now in the driveway. Coming from NYC and a working class background, Flick is doing his best trying to understand this strange, new life in a Massachusetts suburb. He gets a job in the kitchen at Mayhaven and gets a first hand look at the difference between being on the inside or the outside.

This isn't really a beach read full of rollicking summer fun. Topics handled in the plot are a bit more serious than that. The big secret Darcy has will be very apparent for astute readers to pick up on and it is clear that the story arc is going to result in revealing it. In spite of the predictability of the plot, the writing is very good and the overall message at the end is positive.

The narrative is told through chapters from the point-of-view of Ned, Darcy, and Flick and they are the characters who are the most fully realized and portrayed with more than surface characteristics. They all experience growth as characters. For teens, Darcy and Flick are sympathetic characters displaying insight and wisdom. Thanks to Atria for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Liars

Liars by Sarah Manguso
7/23/24; 272 pages
Random House/Hogarth

Liars by Sarah Manguso is a very highly recommended scathing portrait of a marriage. Due to the brutally honesty revelations of the relationship Liars is not an easy novel to read and for some readers it will bring up painful memories or experiences.

Jane, a writer, meets John Bridge, a filmmaker, and the two fall in love, marry, and plan to continue to both have fulfilling, creative lives. When their child is born, Jane is thrilled, but is also thrust into the role of main caretaker, and cleaner, while John is often absent, doing what he wants. She is now a wife and mother whose life is overtaken by John’s ambitions, whims, and ego. Jane says, "I was in charge of everything and in control of nothing." John frequently moves them all across the country as he pursues new jobs, another form of control, while never admitting to any mistakes.

Jane tries to keep her writing and marriage going throughout all the upheavals. Her health suffers, both physical and mental. She says something that many women face, "My time, which is to say the time that was mine, for me alone, had disappeared. And at once I understood why I hadn't felt like myself in years. My own time - my own life - had disappeared, been overtaken." The novel follows their 14 year relationship. Readers know John will be divorcing her. It is clear from the start. Jane is the narrator of the story and includes within her account, her personal writing about the issues in her marriage and how marriage can make liars of us.

Honestly, this is an impeccably written but an emotionally draining novel to read, especially if you have experienced some of the same things Jane did. I appreciate Manguso naming her main characters John and Jane, common names, and having the child simply be the child. Many readers will be projecting themselves and their personal experiences into the lives of the characters. I saved many quotes from Liars, including this true fact: "He said that the clearest indication of cheating was contempt on the part of the cheating spouse."

Liars is presented as fiction, but while reading it does not feel like fiction. It feels like a realistic, raw memoir about a failing marriage. Thanks to Random House/Hogarth for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

A Hunger to Kill

A Hunger to Kill by Kim Mager, Lisa Pulitzer
7/23/24; 320 pages
St. Martin's Press

A Hunger to Kill by Kim Mager, with Lisa Pulitzer is a highly recommended true crime novel merged with a memoir. It follows Mager's interrogation of serial killer Shawn Grate starting on September 13, 2016 when the emergency dispatchers in the small town of Ashland, Ohio,  received a 911 call from a terrified woman who claimed to be kidnapped. Shawn Grate was the man holding her hostage.

With over 20 years of experience, Detective Kim Mager conducted a series of brilliant interviews with Grate over a period of eight days. She recorded everything , including all his confessions marking Grate as a kidnapper, rapist, and serial killer. He confesses to at least five additional rapes and murders. It is suspected he may have been responsible for more. Mager had gotten enough evidence for Grate's conviction. He was sentenced to death in June 2018.

A Hunger to Kill is a true crime book that details the investigation and Mager's intense and insightful interviews, but it also has an autobiographical aspect as it shares Mager's personal story as well. True crime aficionados may not appreciate the biographical details. Those interested in what makes a good detective, investigator, and interrogator, especially for a female officer, may appreciate the background information. That said, I enjoyed both parts but the transitions between the crime investigation and the memoir didn't always feel smooth.

Part of my appreciation of the personal information is the depiction of Mager juggling work and a family, while dealing with the interviews and horrific topics. Reading about her handling of the interviews is masterful as she is empathetic and establishes a rapport with Grate, all while getting him to confess to his crimes. Thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.