‘The Lies Beneath’ by Lucy O’Callaghan, published with Poolbeg Press, has been 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.’
Lucy lives in South Galway close to the Clare border. She met a Galway man at university in Wales where she studied English Studies & Philosophy, and travelled some of the world before moving to the West of Ireland and teaching English and.
‘The Lies Beneath’ was published earlier this month and follows four woman: best friends Carla and Emily, and mother and daughter, Amanda and Dawn. It’s a story of love, friendship, deceit, betrayal and the masks we wear.
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 herroles 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.
Lucy is originally from Yorkshire but met a Galway man at university in Wales. She studied English Studies & Philosophy, and travelled some of the world before moving to the West of Ireland and teaching English and.
Motherhood distracted her from her career for a time and she enjoyed working in the home. Courses in journalism and writing fiction kept her creative 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 owned and managed a preschool for 16 years, teaching 2 to 5-year-olds. She has been a member of both in-person and online writing groups for many years. To further immerse herself in the writing world, Lucy has, in recent years, completed courses in several areas of publishing including copywriting and editing.
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 plotting 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 feature interviews with literary agents.
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.