"A book of devastating truth, written with such quiet dignity that I could not put it down." - Helen Garner

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Spanning 80 years...

Born in Canberra in 1944, Elizabeth Mamchak grew up under the shadow of her father, Sir Frederick Wheeler, a man destined for one of the highest offices in Australia. To the outside world, her family appeared accomplished and respectable. This perception hid a childhood scarred by incest and maintained by silence — abuse that distorted her sense of self and her understanding of love.

As Elizabeth steps into adulthood, the wounds of her past resurface in the form of fragile mental health and fractured relationships. Then, at her father’s wake, she makes an unexpected and disturbing discovery — one that reveals hidden truths about her father’s dark side.

In … a figment of your imagination, my dear, Elizabeth shares her remarkable story with raw honesty, courage, and humour. She also issues a vital call: for survivors to speak out, for loved ones to listen, and for silence to no longer protect perpetrators.

Available for purchase now

Visit your local bookstore (in Australia or NZ) and they will order in if they don't have stock.

Or, to order online:

AUSTRALIA: Amazon;  Booktopia; The Nile (AU)  

NEW ZEALAND: Bateman Books; The Nile (NZ)

UK & Rest of World: Amazon (UK)

ISBN: 9781761097171

About the author

Elizabeth (Liz) Mamchak studied professional writing at CCAE, where she learned the skills of crafting language. Writing has been a way for her to express the complexities of human relationships and important social issues. She has always loved the written word and the power of words to unlock ideas.

Elizabeth had a successful career as a social worker. The deep professional and personal connections she made throughout her career confirmed for her, as a survivor, the importance of being heard and being believed. She realised how important writing is as a medium for sharing survivors’ stories.

The pandemic coincided with Grace Tame calling for a national focus on sexual violence against women and children. This was the impetus for Elizabeth to write her memoir.

She is the mother of three adult children and has one granddaughter.

A rare collaboration

In the wake of COVID, when Liz wrote the first draft of her memoir, her son Andrew joined her to bring Figment to life. Over nearly four years, they spent countless hours on video calls, working towards a finished manuscript that was launched in April 2026.

The significance of this collaboration dates back many years. Liz was forced to relinquish custody of her first two children (Kate and Andrew) while they were both very young. Throughout their childhood, they were on opposite sides of the Tasman Sea, with Liz in Canberra and her children growing up in Auckland, New Zealand. It was only in adulthood that they really got to know each other. This separation was immensely painful, but there were many opportunities to come together in the decades that followed.

This story was featured by the Sydney Morning Herald in their Two of Us column in March 2026.

Book launch event

... a figment of your imagination, my dear was launched in Canberra on Thursday 23 April 2026, at an evening event hosted by Canberra’s family-owned independent bookstore, The Book Cow.

The level of interest in the event meant the launch was moved a few doors down to Winning Appliances, where Elizabeth was joined by family, friends, readers, supporters, and members of the wider community.

It was a special evening — intimate and thoughtful — and a significant milestone in Elizabeth’s long journey as a writer and survivor.

For Elizabeth, the evening marked far more than the publication of a book. It was the culmination of a long journey — from being silenced to reclaiming the narrative with clarity and authority. In conversation with Jane Cadzow, senior writer at The Sydney Morning Herald, Elizabeth spoke with honesty and warmth about the story behind the memoir and the importance of survivors being heard and believed.