For years, all she craved was anonymity.After the initial blaze of publicity, she retreated into her new life, avoiding all reference to the past. "It was so painful when it came to that point in a relationship where I needed to say `I'm not who you think I am'," she recounted. "But almost nobody walked away"When her daughter Lauren was born, she was anxious to protect her from the truth. Once, when a documentary on Jonestown was on TV, Lauren was with her father and exclaimed: "Daddy, that looked like Mummy!" Her father hastily changed channels. But it was Lauren, with her ever more persistent questions, that caused Layton to address the past. Another turning point was the Branch Davidian sect siege in Waco, Texas, in 1994: she realised that if survivors like her did not speak up and try to explain the mindset of sect members, further calamities could easily occur.

"I heard about Waco while driving across the Bay Bridge and I remember thinking that if the car flipped over and I died there and then, I would be remembered only as an escapee from Jonestown," she said. "The book became an attempt to lend dignity to my experience." Writing the book was a painful, two- year experience and even when it was finished, anxiety did not subside. "I was afraid people would find me truly vile," she said.In the event, the book received glowing reviews praising not only Layton's courage but also her gift for narrative - reviews that she read not so much with excitement as relief. The relief was evidently felt by other Jonestown survivors, some of whom contacted Layton and found strength to confront their own demons.

But much residual pain remains.Larry Layton has little prospect of parole, and their father is critically ill "He cried through every chapter of my book," Debbie said. "He is haunted by what happened, why a man he never met should try to ruin him. Ultimately there is no answer to the question, for him or anyone else.". For somebody directing Peter Grimes, Peter Stein could hardly make a better entrance.