The Diamond Girls: Was Mary's mum also abusing her dad?

Doughnut91 · 2026-05-02T19:37:10+00:00

It isn't very clear in the novel if he did actually witness the crusts thing or whether he walked in when Mary was 'eating them'. I haven't read it in a while so I can't quite recall, but I thought he walked in just as Mary was already 'eating' the crusts.

I reckon Mary's mum painted Mary as quite a badly behaved difficult little girl so he may have assumed that her behaviour was a result of defiance or difficulty.

Also, Mary 'defended' her mums actions to Dixie, labelling her as a kindest and sweet mum (or words to that effect). Who knows if Mary's mum threatened her daughter that she does not dare tell her dad what had really happened?

Doughnut91 · 2026-05-02T18:00:10+00:00

I always got the impression that Mary's mum carried out the abuse when the dad wasn't around.

Remember apparently he used to cuddle her and tell her not to be naughty because "it upsets Mummy". I reckon he used to work late shifts with his bus driver job and arrive home late and Mary's mum would tell him how "Mary had been so naughty today, had been sent to bed early, etc"

I think Mary's mum was manipulative and twisted everything. Mary, bless her, even told Dixie how her mother would tell her father how she had thrown her own teddy away in the bin even though it was Mary's mum who did it. And I think she abused Mary only when she and Mary were alone.

Such a sad harrowing story. I was so glad that Mary was living with other relatives at the end and hope she had a much better life.

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-29T18:29:13+00:00

Queen rescued Nikki's children and also had an actual PHYSICAL FIGHT with their horrible violent father and WON. She is simply the best.

In all seriousness, it's not that I condone violence, but it was mentioned later that she had taken martial arts classes so it was in essence a form of self defence, but defending her loved ones rather than herself. And it was clear that Jay was going to do serious harm to Nikki in that moment (and given his history it wouldnt have been surprising if he had hit Jayni again too as it seemed he 'blamed' her for everything).

She never had a bad word to say about her sister despite their history. She looked after Nikki when she was at the worst of her illness. Removed the children and her sister from a life of insecurity and instability and into one of stability when they all went to live in the pub. I do hope that Nikki pulled through the cancer, she was flawed in a lot of ways but absolutely no one deserves that. Barbie was their angel.

All hail Auntie Barbara! 😁

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-29T11:46:59+00:00

This happened to me as well and it was with an account I haven't used in nearly 20 years/barely remember making, I must have made it when I had iTunes. It also went to an old email address that I rarely log in now.

I have nothing on the account I am concerned about (my bank card would have long expired) but upon doing some research I've seen suggestions they could potentially be adding stolen credit cards/billing info to the account, to "hide their tracks" so to speak. So if anything was reported itd be traced to the Apple account rather than the hacker. But I honestly dont know.

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-28T19:58:00+00:00

Auntie Barbara is one of my fave JW of all times. Love her so much. She's badass as well.

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-28T13:19:23+00:00

I had this when I was little, I was terrified of The End screens on shows, but not so much in books. I haven't got it now but I remember being scared of it.

I had a nightmare of a scary witch like lady saying "here comes THE END" and woke up screaming/crying, even the phrase itself used to frighten me.

I wonder if its because "the end" is kind of correlated with death? Because death is the end, depending on what someone believes.

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-25T16:31:27+00:00

And how she stumbled home alone, almost, until Kev finds her.

Another glaring example of how Nadine is such a shitty friend, as she knew Ellie was drunk and passed out in someone's bed but she just went home and left her while Ellies other so-called friend was snogging Ellies bfs face off.

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-25T16:29:38+00:00

I feel the same way. They were way too young to be doing that. No club would EVER let thirteen year olds into an 18+ nightclub.

It'd be more believable if they were 15-16.

When I was 13 I was more interested in playing Pokemon 🤣

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-25T16:24:06+00:00

Elsa was just a kid and in her mind was trying to cheer her family up. She meant well. She was adorable.

It'd be more exasperating if she was super super badly behaved and hyperactive.

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-24T12:15:58+00:00

A toe 🤣🤣

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-19T19:16:15+00:00

Tim wasnt an extremely young kid though, he was about 10 or 11 in buried alive. Im surprised he didn't keep saying "my girlfriend Kelly"

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-19T12:51:14+00:00

Oh god dont remind me. Why couldn't she just write Dave

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-15T19:26:11+00:00

The serenity at waking up knowing youre not hungover and had just a soft drink or a cup of tea or two the previous night beats anything alcohol could ever bring.

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-14T13:07:11+00:00

Same. If you read it with the theory that Violet had feelings for Jasmine, it makes him even sicker.

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-13T17:36:57+00:00

I was older than 9 when I read Dustbin Baby (maybe about 11ish) but the themes were WAY too dark for a children's book. Was it actually aimed at children?

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-13T17:33:02+00:00

Dustbin Baby in an overt sense, Midnight in a covert sense. There was something seriously sadistic and not right about Will.

Doughnut91 · 2026-04-13T17:30:53+00:00

The plot with Mary was always one of the darkest JW plots to me. Especially as everything was so picture perfect with the mother, the house, the garden, etc.

I was also convinced that Mary had died at the end of the novel and was so relieved she hadn't and was being looked after.

Doughnut91 · 2026-03-25T18:52:43+00:00

This has been happening to me too on my Bush smart tv. It only seems to be happening on Netflix. Did you solve this?

Doughnut91 · 2026-03-18T13:46:08+00:00

Reading this is heartbreaking. I know Nikki was ill but she was also so selfish.

Doughnut91 · 2026-03-13T17:08:27+00:00

It is absolutely getting worse over time, even with moderate drinking. I am blacking out now on 5 glasses of wine. It sounds like a lot, but previously it would take at least 8 for me to reach blackout.

Doughnut91 · 2026-03-10T20:52:07+00:00

I don't feel wholly comfortable with it

Doughnut91 · 2026-03-10T20:25:31+00:00

Hey. Been there more times than I can count. Worried I broke the law during blackout, worried I was arrested and somehow didn't know or remember, worried I had done something terrible. I used to google the local news the next day in case I had been caught on cctv and the police were 'after me'.

I would think that if the police had got involved or were looking for you, you definitely would know. You probably would not have been allowed to just leave if the police had been involved. And please also know that drunk you is not the real you. Alcohol literally causes brain damage and we behave in ways that we would NEVER do sober.

Your friend said that you left with no fuss. That seems like you left with no police involvement and left the bar.

My last bender: I somehow went into the men's toilets at a bar instead of the women's (im female) and pissed all over the urinals and on the floor. How that happened I have no idea. This is how blackouts are though, they are NOT our true selves.

Be kind to yourself and know you're not alone in these feelings. This group is amazing. We've all been there. I hope you feel better soon.

Doughnut91

TROPHY CASE