‘Friendship tested, secrets revealed, lives shattered: a gripping tale of deception‘
-The Lies Beneath
[ About The Lies Beneath ]
Carla seems to have it all – a big house in a picturesque village on the west coast of Ireland, a rich husband, and two great kids. But she wants to be Carla again. To rediscover herself beyond her roles as a mother and wife. Teaching is her passion, but her husband Thomas prefers to keep his wife at home and blocks her attempts to return to work.
Carla’s best friend Emily is struggling in the dating world. Back to work since separating from her husband, she longs to have a partner again – a longing that leads her to make a disastrous mistake.
Amanda, a friendly librarian, is a manipulative mother behind the scenes, and prepared to use extreme measures to hold on to her student daughter Dawn who is desperate to escape her suffocating situation.
Hidden beneath the picture-perfect marriage, the enduring friendship and mother/daughter relationship lie betrayals that will shatter three families.
[ My Review ]
The Lies Beneath by Lucy O’Callaghan published April 2nd with Poolbeg Press and is described as ‘a compelling tale of fractured trust, elusive truths and the indomitable human spirit, unravelling the intricate fabric of relationships and the shadows lurking beneath the surface.’
Carla and Emily are best friends since their school years and have always been there for each other through thick and thin. Following the recent fracture in her marriage, Emily has relied on Carla’s support to see her through. Emily is now gaining strength and taking some brave steps into this new, unexpected, world. With Carla’s unwavering encouragement, Emily starts to date again and begins to see the possibility of a new life for herself beyond the shattered remains of her marriage.
Carla is happily married to Thomas, She is a stay-at-home mother and lives a life of relative comfort. Her time is very much her own when the kids are in school but, although very much aware of the freedom she has, Carla is restless. She had taken time out from teaching, with the intention of treating it as a career break, but Thomas has a different view. Thomas doesn’t want Carla to work. He likes having his home life ordered and sees Carla as central to this. They have money. She has everything she could possibly want, so why would she consider going back to work?
Emily and Carla, unknowingly, envy each other’s life. Emily would love to experience the stress-free life that Carla has, where her only concerns are Parent’s Association meetings and choosing what to cook for dinner. Carla, on the other hand, sees this new life Emily is carving for herself and relishes the independence of being back at work, meeting new people and regaining her confidence.
Amanda is a local librarian who has raised her daughter, Dawn, more or less alone. Dawn’s father, Brad. lives in The States and Amanda’s brother, Michael, lives in Australia. With little close support, it has very much been Amanda and Dawn. They had a very close relationship through the years, but now Dawn wants to spread her wings and gain some independence away from the helicopter parenting of her mother. Dawn is suffocating under her mother’s controlling hand and wants out.
When the paths of Carla, Emily and Amanda cross, secrets begin to unravel and truths are slowly revealed. It soon becomes clear that all is not as it seems behind the locked doors of all three families. Secrets can be dangerous. Secrets can destroy. Secrets can be toxic.
The Lies Beneath is an enjoyable novel that examines the bonds of family and friends. Deception and betrayal, control and jealousy, lust and vengeance, guilt and regret are all themes explored by Lucy O’Callaghan as the story unfolds. Beneath the surface, lies are often buried deep, but sometimes they bubble up to the top and nothing can stop the destruction they unleash. The Lies Beneath is a talented debut from an author at the beginning of her journey. It will be interesting to see what direction Lucy O’Callaghan takes next.
[ Bio ]
Lucy is originally from Yorkshire but met a Galway man at university in Wales and moved to the West of Ireland. She studied English Studies and Philosophy and travelled some of the world before embarking on teaching English.
Motherhood to two boys and a girl distracted her from her career for a long time and she enjoyed working in the home. Courses in journalism and writing fiction kept her brain ticking over. Writing stories at first for her children, she moved towards contemporary women’s fiction. A self-confessed people watcher, stories that happen to real people have always fascinated her.
Lucy writes a weekly Really Useful Links column for writing,ie aimed at finding the best advice out there for various aspects of writing. From potting v pantsing, world-building, scene description, and character traits, to working through the saggy middle, her columns have all areas covered. She also writes regular interviews with literary agents.
The Lies Beneath is her first novel and is published by Poolbeg Press. When not writing, Lucy can be found walking the beaches of Ireland and exploring her favourite Burren hills alongside her husband and dog. These walks are often when the best story ideas come to mind, and plot problems are teased out and fixed. She also likes to rearrange her purple pens and purple notebooks, and line up her collection of elephants (not real).
