Strange Sally Diamond

Angela is an important secondary character who helps Sally to recover from her trauma and isolation. Angela is an old friend of Thomas’s wife, Jean. Angela is a family friend; therefore, Sally trusts her more than others. When Thomas Diamond dies, Angela comes to Sally’s aid and defends her against the accusations of murder or wrongdoing. Angela operates from a place of genuine empathy and concern for Sally. She doesn’t judge Sally for her odd behavior; instead, she helps Sally find therapy and other ways to live a more fulfilling life. Angela also empathizes with Sally’s ostracization from society. As a gay woman, Angela often faces judgment and discrimination by others. Angela is proof that a person can remain true to themselves even when their identity is challenged and disrespected by others. Angela’s help and love are instrumental in helping Sally to progress and trust people. At the end of the novel, when Sally has returned to her violent and self-destructive habits, Angela refuses to give up on Sally, providing hope that Sally will once again be able to work through her trauma.

Thomas Diamond is a psychotherapist who adopts Sally when her biological mother, Denise, dies by suicide. The novel begins with Thomas’s death, but his influence remains important throughout the novel. As the psychotherapist who treated both Sally and Denise when they were admitted into his psychiatric hospital, Thomas was fascinated with their case. Although Denise’s death ruined his career, he adopted Sally so that he could stay involved in helping her to live a more normal life. Thomas is a character who is defined by paradox. On one hand, Thomas is a devoted father to Sally, allowing her to live her life the way she wants to. He doesn’t force her to interact with others and instead encourages Sally to believe in herself. He builds her self-esteem by stressing that she should not define herself by the diagnoses she has received throughout her life. However, Thomas was also a flawed father and doctor. He is the one who chose to separate Sally and Denise, which led to Denise’s death by suicide. Many characters see Thomas as a father who used Sally for his own experiments in psychotherapy, for he also enabled Sally to remain self-isolated well into adulthood even though she is capable of living a normal life. Thomas’s character therefore provides a challenging question about the nature of love and control.

Mark Norton is Sally’s biological uncle. His appearance in the novel first sparks mystery, tension, and a foreboding tone. When he first appears in Sally’s life, he doesn’t introduce himself as her uncle. Instead, he spends weeks getting closer to Sally in ways that make Sally’s other friends uncomfortable. For example, he seems obsessed with her past and is inappropriately interested in her family history. Mark’s real identity is finally revealed, and this allows him and Sally to start again and form a better relationship. Mark is Denise’s brother. His life has been destroyed by the long-lasting ramifications of Conor’s abduction and abuse of Denise. The disappearance of his sister, the years of heartbreak and stress that his family endured, the revelation of Denise’s story, and her subsequent death by suicide are all traumas that deeply affect Mark’s current life. Mark is obsessed with his lost sister because his own life was disrupted by trauma. Mark continues to have a difficult time dealing with this obsession. Even when he is given access to Thomas’s notes about Denise and is welcomed into Sally’s life as her uncle, he is still obsessed with Denise and Conor Geary to the point that Sally is uncomfortable with him. Mark and Sally’s relationship is also hindered by Mark’s anger at Sally for giving some of the money from the sale of Conor’s house to Peter. Mark’s belief that he is owed some of that money indicates that he also believes that he deserves greater reparations for what happened to his sister and his family.

Conor Geary is the primary antagonist of the novel. He is abusive, manipulative, and lacking in empathy. Conor kidnaps Denise when Denise is only 11 years old. He spends over a decade keeping Denise locked in his house and rapes her on a regular basis. He also pulls out her teeth, chains her up, and physically abuses her. When Denise gives birth to a boy, Conor separates mother and son. When Denise gives birth to a girl, Conor only lets her keep the baby because he can’t stand girls. Conor is a sexist, misogynistic abuser who believes that girls and women are inherently evil. He uses this attitude as an irrational justification to excuse his long-term sexual abuse of little girls. Conor also abuses his beloved son Peter by keeping the boy locked in the house and almost completely secluded from society. When his activities in Ireland lead to Denise’s rescue, Conor flees with Peter and continues his abuse in New Zealand, where he kidnaps the 14-year-old Lindy on the pretense of giving Peter a friend, thereby replicating the same cycle of abuse. Ultimately, Conor’s activities teach his son how to kidnap and abuse females on a long-term basis. He also manipulates his son into believing that girls and women deserve this treatment. Conor’s psychopathic proclivities and pedophilia are made all the more dangerous by his lack of respect for basic human rights and autonomy. Even after his death, he is the ghost who continuously haunts the novel because his abuse has lifelong consequences for all of his victims.