Review of Model: Pretty Girl Ugly Business, by Cheryl Diamond

What fascinates me about the two memoirs by Cheryl Diamond, both written before the age of thirty, is the deep childhood trauma hidden behind them.
Like so many of these stories the trauma remained hidden until it almost killed her, and she was finally forced to face it but not until the very end of her second memoir.

But that was a few years after Model was published. Cheryl Diamond had become a glowing success as an author and high fashion model in New York City. If you were to only read the first book she wrote about being a model on her own at the age of sixteen in a big city you would think she was the product of a normal, healthy, well-rounded childhood because that is the way people from horrific abusive families learn to cope, by appearing totally normal

An uplifting reading experience

Reading Cheryl Diamond’s writing is cathartic because it is a way to celebrate the battles of someone who has been neglected and gone through hell as a kid. It’s healing to see her win against so many assholes who wanted to have their way with her. Besides all the therapy points, her books are entertaining speedy fun reads with lots of adventure.

Not bad for a memoir written by a teenager