Leanne Olson

by Liz Nugent

released July 18, 2023 from Simon & Schuster Canada

Strange Sally Diamond is an odd little book that really pulled me in with its characters and secrets.

It opens with Sally’s father dying. She’s a woman in her 40s with little life experience and no friends, and she thinks she’s doing the right thing by burning her father’s body in the shed. A neighbour calls the police and suddenly she has to question everything she knows about herself and her life.

I’m often torn on books with protagonists who seem to be on the autism spectrum — sometimes they’re treated as childlike, or cute, or stupid. Sally is a much more complex character, and her behaviour makes sense with her backstory. She actively drives the plot.

There’s another main character who appears partway through the book, and the contrast between that person’s history and Sally’s is fascinating and so sad.

This book has a lot of darkness but also a lot of hope. It’s a character-driven story, more of a quiet drama than thriller most of the time. I’d recommend it to readers who like to slow down a bit and really consider the people behind true crime stories.

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Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for my review copy of this book.