.Morning snack at work. I’m on Instagram and my local library has just posted they finally offer Hoopla. A quick few taps and I’m checking out the selections looking for an audiobook to get me through the morning.
Then I spot a book I’ve seen promoted heavily on Instagram and decide to give it a go. Cheryl Diamond’s acclaimed memoir of her years as a child in a fugitive family who spends her childhood on the run from the people in power after her father.
Nowhere Girl it is.
<deep sighs>
I’ve been wondering how to do this review for the last several weeks.
Part of me is tempted to just cut/paste the thoughts typed at lighting speed, well as fast as you can type with one finger on the iPhone Notes app because I am An Old. Because this a book I had such a reaction to , I snatched a few moments to type out my thoughts to make them stop intruding on my concentration doing my actual factual pays my bills job.
Or I could try to put the notes in a nice coherent package with proper grammar, spelling and references.
I am thisclose to doing the former. It more tempting than the Mason jar crammed with Japanese Kit Kat on top of the Folio Society bookcase.
And those are FORBIDDEN Kit Kat.
<clears throat>
I know there are people who adore this book and the publisher is very firm this is a true story and Cheryl Diamond’s story checks out. I am not one of those people.
And before anyone huffs and puffs and pulls the “You’re An Ugly Dumb Hater” card? I did finish the book.
Listened to the audiobook as long as I could bear it at work.
Borrowed the eBook when I got home and spent the bulk of my evening reading to the bitter end.
And when I say bitter end I mean I finished at 11:37pm and went to work the next day on about 3.5 hours of sleep and all the tea.
Let me share my first furtively typed note
“This book sucks”
More notes?
“Some things yes but am very suspicious”
“It’s only tolerable if you read it like a classic VCA novel”
“Holy shit this is like every actually written by VCA novel”
I could continue but I will spare you the poorly spelled comments.
There are strong parallels with the V.C. Andrews’ novels of my 1980s youth. Cheryl is the clear Cathy Doll/Dahl meets Heaven Leigh Casteel main character. She is just a being of goodness and light who the whole family revolves around. The fragile movie star looking mother. The handsome charmer father/bully who could run cons with Damien Adare when they’re not pushing their children to be perfect at everything. Brooding sister Chiara should really be My Sweet Audrina’s Vera’s best friend. As for her brother? At one point I do remember literally muttering to myself a particular situation which is a horrific one was very Flowers in the Attic and minutes later well… <bites lip>
Looking back weeks later my thoughts on Nowhere Girl haven’t changed. Some people have compared Nowhere Girl to Jeannette Walls The Glass Castle. I’ve read The Glass Castle and find it to be much more believable. Parents being so lost to their own mental demons. Very real.
But I don’t fully believe the whole story Cheryl presents. I do think there are threads of truth and darker things happened which could really change the narrative around the family. In fact I would love to hear her sister’s version of events.
Do I think her father was a con man and a deeply disturbing man?
Yes.
Was her family damaged?
Yes.
Do I trust Cheryl.
No.
Will people believe her.
Sure. But I’m not one of them.
whiskeytangowendymarie.com 