Nowhere Girl: A Memoir of a Fugitive Childhood

(Paperback)

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By the age of nine, I will have lived in more than a dozen countries, on five continents, under six assumed identities. Ill know how a document is forged, how to withstand an interrogation, and most important, how to disappear...

Tothe young Cheryl Diamond, life felt likeone big adventure, whether she washurtling down the Himalayas in a rickety caror mingling with underworld fixers. Her familyappeared to be an unbreakable gang of five. Oneday they were in Australia, the next in SouthAfrica, the pattern repeating as they crossedcontinents, changed identities, and erased theirpasts. What Diamond didnt yet know was thatshe was born into a family of outlaws fleeingfrom the highest international law enforcementagencies, a family with secrets that wouldeventually catch up to all of them.

By the time she was in her teens, Diamondhad lived dozens of lives and lies, but as shegrew older, love and trust turned to fear andviolence, and her family the only people shehad in the world began to unravel. She startedto realise that her life itself might be a big con,and the people she loved, the most dangerous ofall. With no way out and her identity burned sooften that she had no proof she even existed, allthat was left was a girl from nowhere.

Surviving would require her to escape, andto do so Diamond would have to unlearn allthe rules she grew up with. Wild, heartbreaking,and often unexpectedly funny, Nowhere Girl isan impossible-to-believe true story of self-discoveryand triumph.

Reviews

'An absolutely breathless read. Nowhere Girl isa courageous, heart-breaking, and beautifully written story of a girl doing everything in her power to protect the ones she loves.'
Paul Haggis, Academy Award-winning writer/director ofCrash, Million Dollar Baby, and Casino Royale
"A riveting tale of trauma and resilience."
People

Like Tara WestoversEducated, Cheryl Diamonds memoir tells the harrowing story of how crippling a childhood can be under the despotic narcissistic rule of a controlling father . . . Diamond has a powerful story to tell, and she tells it well, creating strong characters and settings, describing the complicated motivations of her parents and older siblings, all while conveying her yearning for normalcy, whatever that is.
New York Journal of Books

A shocking rollercoaster ride of a story that shares secrets of life on the run but also asks big questions about what family means and who we truly are, no matter what the name on a passport might say.
Town Country

This memoir is proof that truth really is stranger than fiction.
CrimeReads, The Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2021: Summer Reading Edition

[A] remarkable true story of growing up in a family of outlaws.
Asheville Citizen-Times

A transfixing chronicle . . . Propulsive . . . Eloquent and bracing, Diamonds story will haunt readers long after the last page.
Publishers Weekly, starred review

A beyond-harrowing memoir . . . Diamond's tale might just be the most mind-blowing of them all.
Booklist, starred review

Former teen model Diamond reveals a childhood both wacky and cliff-hanging in Nowhere Girl; on the run with an outlaw family, she lived in more than a dozen countries, on five continents, under six assumed identities, by age nine.
Library Journal

Nowhere Girlbeautifully captures the intensity, darkness, and fierce love within an uncompromising outlaw family. Diamond's odyssey would leave the most adventurous among us panting to keep up.
Alia Volz, author of Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco

An absolutely breathless read. Nowhere Girl isa courageous, heart-breaking, and beautifully written story of a girl doing everything in her power to protect the ones she loves.
Paul Haggis, Academy Award-winning writer/director ofCrash, Million Dollar Baby, and Casino Royale
"A riveting tale of trauma and resilience."
People

Like Tara WestoversEducated, Cheryl Diamonds memoir tells the harrowing story of how crippling a childhood can be under the despotic narcissistic rule of a controlling father . . . Diamond has a powerful story to tell, and she tells it well, creating strong characters and settings, describing the complicated motivations of her parents and older siblings, all while conveying her yearning for normalcy, whatever that is.
New York Journal of Books

A shocking rollercoaster ride of a story that shares secrets of life on the run but also asks big questions about what family means and who we truly are, no matter what the name on a passport might say.
Town Country

This memoir is proof that truth really is stranger than fiction.
CrimeReads, The Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2021: Summer Reading Edition

[A] remarkable true story of growing up in a family of outlaws.
Asheville Citizen-Times

A transfixing chronicle . . . Propulsive . . . Eloquent and bracing, Diamonds story will haunt readers long after the last page.
Publishers Weekly, starred review

A beyond-harrowing memoir . . . Diamond's tale might just be the most mind-blowing of them all.
Booklist, starred review

Former teen model Diamond reveals a childhood both wacky and cliff-hanging in Nowhere Girl; on the run with an outlaw family, she lived in more than a dozen countries, on five continents, under six assumed identities, by age nine.
Library Journal

Nowhere Girlbeautifully captures the intensity, darkness, and fierce love within an uncompromising outlaw family. Diamond's odyssey would leave the most adventurous among us panting to keep up.
Alia Volz, author of Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco

Author Bio

Cheryl Diamond is now a citizen of Luxembourg and lives between there andRome. Her behind-the-scenes account of life as a teenage model,Model: A Memoir, was published in 2008. Diamonds second book,Naked Rome, reveals the Eternal City through the eyes of its most fascinating people. Her new book,Nowhere Girl: A Memoir of a Fugitive Childhood, is available now.