Ep. 152: Liz Nugent (Author of Strange Sally Diamond) + Book Recommendations
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
Sarah Dickinson
4.9 • 732 Ratings
🗓️ 4 October 2023
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Episode 152, author Liz Nugent talks about her latest novel, Strange Sally Diamond. Liz is known for her dark and psychological storytelling. Strange Sally Diamond is character-driven, delving deep into psychology and trauma, and despite Sally’s damaged nature, Liz portrays her with empathy and nuance. Strange Sally Diamond challenges us to consider the “why” behind someone’s behavior. Plus, we get some great book recommendations from Liz.
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CLICK HERE for the full episode Show Notes on the blog.
Highlights
- Liz shares a spoiler-free summary of Strange Sally Diamond.
- The literary character who inspired this story.
- The amazing way Liz wrote the psychological aspects in Strange Sally Diamond.
- Why Liz finds it easier to write from the male perspective and how that changed (or didn’t!) for writing Sally.
- All about those two different endings (UK vs. US editions) and the reasoning behind it!
- Liz’s philosophy about opening lines.
- The inspiration behind the opening line for Strange Sally Diamond.
- Liz shares a little about her next book — including her opening line (though that could change)!
- We get a little behind-the-scenes scoop about book cover art and an author’s role in choosing their book cover.
Liz’s Book Recommendations [32:45]
Two OLD Books She Loves
- I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb | Amazon | Bookshop.org [32:58]
- Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby | Amazon | Bookshop.org [37:08]
- Other Books Mentioned:
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen [33:12]
- Bleak House by Charles Dickens [33:13]
- She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb [36:02]
- All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby [41:05]
Two NEW Books She Loves
- Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena | Amazon | Bookshop.org [41:21]
- I Will Find You by Harlan Coben | Amazon | Bookshop.org [42:33]
- Other Books Mentioned:
- The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena [42:08]
One Book She Didn’t Love
- American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis | Amazon
| Bookshop.org [45:17]
TWO NEW RELEASES She’s Excited About
- The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose (November 28, 2023) | Amazon
- End of Story by A. J. Finn (February 20, 2024) | Amazon
- Other Books Mentioned:
- The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn [49:46]
Last 5-Star Book Liz Read
- The Lost Man by Jane Harper | Amazon | Bookshop.org [50:54]
Other Books Mentioned
- Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent [1:44]
- Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent [1:47]
- Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent [1:48]
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee [3:27]
- The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk M.D. [10:33]
- The Maid by Nita Prose [21:52]
Other Links
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Sarah's Bookshelves Live. I'm Sarah of Sarah's Bookshelves. Each week, I talk with a bookish |
| 0:15.6 | guest about two old books they love, two new books they love, one book they do not love, |
| 0:22.2 | and one new release they're excited about. |
| 0:23.5 | We're going to get real and sometimes a bit snarky about all things books. |
| 0:27.7 | If you like the show, I'd love it if you follow the show in your podcast player, spread |
| 0:32.2 | the word to your reader friends, post about it on your social media, or support the show on Patreon at patreon.com slash Sarah's |
| 0:41.9 | bookshelves. Supporting the show on Patreon gets you access to bonus podcast episodes and lots of other |
| 0:47.6 | goodies. There's also a link in the show notes and in my Instagram bio. Let's get rolling. |
| 0:53.4 | I haven't talked about Strange Sally Diamond by |
| 0:55.9 | Liz Nugent on the big show until today, but we have talked a lot about it in our Patreon community, |
| 1:02.3 | including doing an hour-long spoiler discussion about it. Strange Sally Diamond unpacks childhood |
| 1:08.3 | trauma in one of the most comprehensive ways I've ever seen, |
| 1:12.1 | and offers hope amid the darkness. Sally, our main character, will stick with me for a very |
| 1:17.1 | long time. As we discovered in our spoiler discussion for patrons, there's so much to talk about |
| 1:22.3 | with this book, but don't worry, we will not get into spoilers in this episode. I'm thrilled to |
| 1:27.4 | welcome Liz Nugent, author of |
| 1:29.4 | Strange Sally Diamond, to the podcast. Liz has worked in Irish film, theater, and television |
| 1:34.0 | for most of her adult life. She is an award-winning writer of radio and television drama and has |
| 1:39.0 | written critically acclaimed short stories, both for children and adults, as well as the best-selling |
| 1:43.6 | novels unraveling Oliver, |
| 1:45.1 | which I also loved, lying in weight and little cruelties. She lives in Dublin and has won four |
| 1:51.0 | Irish book awards as well as the James Joyce Medal for literature. Welcome, Liz. Oh, thank you. |
... |
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