“A gripping, gutting read. Barbiere proves she can take a true story and shape it into something that reads like fiction without losing an ounce of its weight.”
Some Secrets Should Stay Buried
Some Secrets Should Stay Buried
Elizabeth R. Barbiere was born and raised in Maryland, though her story has never been confined to one place. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Language from the University of Maryland, College Park, spending years living and working across Europe before her studies were even complete. Her curiosity carried her further still, through extensive travels in Asia, Africa, and South America, before she returned home to earn a Master of Education from Towson University. These years abroad, immersed in cultures far from her own, would go on to shape everything she later put on the page.
Elizabeth is the author of two previous works, From Death to Disparity and Water from a Stone, both drawn from real loss and real history reimagined through fiction. She has spent her career as an educator, teaching English abroad and French and Italian in the United States, in classrooms and beyond them. For Elizabeth, writing has always been an extension of living, a way of turning what she has witnessed, and what she has survived into stories worth sharing. She now lives in downtown Baltimore City with her son.
Elizabeth R. Barbiere writes from a place of lived experience rather than imagination alone. Her years abroad, her work as an educator, and the personal losses she has carried have all found their way into her storytelling, giving her narratives a rare sense of authenticity. Whether drawing from history, memory, or true events, Elizabeth’s work reflects a deep belief that the stories we tell matter most when they come from truth.
“A gripping, gutting read. Barbiere proves she can take a true story and shape it into something that reads like fiction without losing an ounce of its weight.”
“I kept waiting for a twist that would make it all make sense, but that’s the horror of it. Some truths don’t make sense. They just happen. This book captures that perfectly.”
“This isn’t an easy read, but it’s an important one. Barbiere handles the darkest parts of the story with a level of care that never feels exploitative.”
“I picked this up on a whim and finished it in one sitting. The way the story builds, you can feel the wheels coming off long before the truth surfaces. Devastating and brilliant.”
“What Lies in the Truth is the kind of book that makes you question every ‘inspiring’ story you’ve ever watched on TV. I couldn’t shake it for days.”
“Barbiere writes with a restraint that makes the story hit even harder. She doesn’t sensationalize any of it. She just lays the truth out, and lets it speak for itself.”