The Lie That Settles

Description

Peter Farrell is not the first person to discover he is illegitimate but few have been brave enough to provide such an illuminating account of the events which lead to the search for a parent. This rich and compelling memoir reveals a surprising personal history behind an apparently conventional life. Through Peter's mother, Marion, we are taken from an East End munitions factory in the First World War and a 1920s mental health institution to the bohemian free school movement, and learn what sacrifices a mother can make for her child. Peter's own life experiences are forged on a childhood of institutional living with little concept of normal family life. As a new immigrant sent to work on a remote prison farm in New Zealand, it takes Peter many years and encounters to finally understand what Maori mean by the word 'whanau'. The Lies That Settles is a powerful story of loss, love and survival spanning nine decades and two continents.

Peter Farrell was born in London in 1940 and immigrated to New Zealand in 1965. He has had a varied career in the Public Sector, mostly in change management roles. He was a director at the National Museum and Art Gallery when it moved to Wellington waterfront and re-opened as Te Papa in 1998. He studied creative writing with Fiona Kidman, has an advanced diploma in applied arts (creative writing) from Whitireia, and is a graduate of the Massey University Life Writing Course. He has contributed to a number of short story anthologies and journals including The Magpie Stole My Heart and has had work accepted by Radio New Zealand. He has children and grandchildren in Abu Dhabi, Brisbane, Rome and Kuala Lumpur and lives with his wife Sue, in Petone near Wellington.

"I loved the book. I was interested, absorbed and often very moved" - Dame Fiona Kidman