Book Blurb:
What if the people you love most are not who you thought they were? What if you don’t know who you are, either? Cheryl Diamond’s memoir begins when she is four and her family is in Kashmir, India, hurtling down the Himalayas in their battered station wagon headed for the Golden Temple, the holiest site in the Sikh religion. The family are Sikhs. Today. In a few years they will be Jewish. Cheryl’s name is Harbhajan. Today. But in a few years she will be Crystal. By the time she turns nine, Cheryl has had at least six assumed identities. She has lived on five continents, fleeing the specter of Interpol and law enforcement. Her father, a master financial criminal, or so she believes, uproots the family at the slightest sign of suspicion.
Despite the strange circumstances, Diamond’s life as a young child is mostly joyful and exciting, her family of five a tiny, happy circle unto themselves. Even as she learns how to forge identity papers and fix a car with chicken wire, she somehow becomes a near-Olympic-level athlete and then an international teenage model. She even publishes a book about it. As she grows older, though, things get darker. Her identity is burned again and again, leaving her with no past, no proof even that she exists, and her family—the only people she has in the world—begins to unravel. Love and trust turn to fear and violence. Secrets are revealed, and she is betrayed by those on whom she relies most.
My Review: 4.5 stars
Nowhere Girl, a memoir of Cheryl Diamond’s life as a fugitive, was an incredible look into a completely different type of childhood. Since her birth, she has gone by multiple names, never stayed in one city long enough to make lasting connections, did not get any type of formal education, competed in Olympic level gymnastics and swim events, modeled, lived in fear of her family’s capture and in my opinion, was pretty much brainwashed by her father.
This memoir kept me on my toes as her story was filled with highs and lows for the entirety of her life. This is a hard book to review without giving away spoilers, but I assure you, it was a fascinating read. Of course, I wanted to google her parents and learn more about them and her, but with fake names, it wasn’t easy. Alas, she gave us the information she wanted to share, and I appreciate her telling her story. I’m sure in some way, writing this book was therapeutic for her and somewhat freeing, as she can unleash all the emotional and physical pain she was carrying and move forward. That’s my hope for her.
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I loved her quote:
“Sometimes two people are meant to meet, but not to last — and that doesn’t make it any less important.”