What Lies Beneath

Overview

Writer Elspeth Sandys was born during the Second World War, the result of a brief encounterbetween two people who would never meet again. The first nine months of her life were spentin the Truby King Karitane Hospital in Dunedin, where she was known by her birth name,Frances Hilton James. This would change with her adoption into the Somerville family. A newbirth certificate was issued and Frances James became Elspeth Sandilands Somerville.Tom and Alice Somerville, Elspeth’s new parents, lived with their son John in Dunedin’sAndersons Bay. While Elspeth was happy among the ebullient and welcoming Somerville clan,she had a difficult relationship with her adoptive mother, who was frequently hospitalisedwith mental health problems. Elspeth’s search for her birth parents did not begin until much later in her adult life. What she discovered after an exhaustive search provided answers that were both disturbing and, ultimately, rewarding. What Lies Beneath is a searing, amusing, and never less than gripping tale of a difficult life, beautifully told.

Author Biography

Elspeth Sandys was born in New Zealand but moved to the UK in 1969. She has published nine novels (River Lines was longlisted for the Orange Prize in 1996), two collections of short stories (Standing in Line won the Elena Garro Pen International Prize in 2003) and has written extensively for the BBC and RNZ. She has also worked in film and TV. Her stage plays have been performed in the UK, the US and NZ. Elspeth's memoir What Lies Beneath was published in 2014. A sequel, Casting Off, followed in 2017. Her most recent novel, Obsession, was published in the same year. In 2019 A Communist in the Family: Searching for Rewi Alley was published to widespread acclaim. Part biography, part family memoir, part travelogue, the book follows the life and times of Rewi Alley of China, the author's cousin. Elspeth has held a number of literary fellowships and residencies, and in 2006 was awarded the ONZM for services to literature. She now lives in New Zealand.