Hachette Ireland acquires Sarah Corbett Lynch’s memoir A Time for Truth: A Daughter’s Search for Justice and Healing

Hachette Books Ireland has announced its acquisition of Sarah Corbett Lynch’s upcoming memoir A Time for Truth: A Daughter’s Search for Justice and Healing, set for publication in February 2025.

The memoir tells the story of Sarah and that of her father Jason Corbett who was brutally killed by his wife, Sarah’s stepmother, Molly Martens and her father Tom Martens in the family’s North Carolina home on the night of August 2 2015.

Jason’s death left eight-year-old Sarah and her brother Jack orphaned, starting a nine-year judicial nightmare as the Corbett family fought for justice for their father, a battle which ended in November 2023 when an appeal by Molly and Tom Martens saw a second-degree murder conviction overturned and the Martens accepting a plea deal of voluntary manslaughter.

The absence of a second trial stripped Sarah away from her chance to take the stand to give evidence against the Martens and to have her voice heard, leading to the publication of her powerful memoir, in which she’s finally given the occasion to speak her truth.

Sarah comments: "Since 2015, I've always had someone else tell my story. There are podcasts, documentaries, magazine articles and forums dedicated to uncovering the truth about my father’s killing, with so many front pages over the years that I lost count. All of which attempted to tell my story but without my words.

"I've had my truth distorted, twisted and changed because I was a child but the truth will always force its way into the light. My brother and I had our words weaponised against us by the people we had trusted and loved so they could mitigate their crime of killing the most important person in my life. They betrayed our trust to avoid consequences for their actions."

An award-winning bereaved children and victims' rights campaigner and one of the youngest authors in Irish history, Sarah was born in Ireland but moved to the US following her mother’s death.

At 13 years old, Sarah wrote an illustrated book, Noodle Loses Dad, to help children cope with bereavement and loss, for which she received a special National Garda Síochána award and a Limerick Young Person tribute.