Joan Mackenzie: Sons of a Good Keen Man and More than You’ll Ever Know

Sons of a Good Keen Man by The Crump Brothers. Barry had six kids (that we know about  all sons, and they met up a few years ago and then decided to write this book about their famous father and how their experience of him was light years away from the public persona that the rest of us got to see. It’s really sad – some very damaged people have been left in his wake, but also gives real insight into someone who was honoured by his country – MBE for services to literature, had his head put on a stamp – but his kids would argue shouldn’t be idealised.  More than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez. It’s a kind of mystery/family drama. The story is told in two timelines by two women who alternate chapters. In the first, a young woman named Cassie wants to get herself a career investigating and writing true crime – think Truman Capote with In Cold Blood – and comes across a story from the 1980’s about a woman living in Laredo, Texas, who had a husband and twin sons but on a trip to Mexico found herself charmed by another man who she eventually also married, becoming a bigamist. She maintained the two lives until the first husband found out and murdered the second one – and now in 2017 Cassie thinks this could be the story she’s after, and contacts the woman (Dolores) to ask if she’ll agree to be interviewed. There’s a story within a story as Cassie’s motivations for wanting to  do this line of work are revealed and they each think they can manipulate the other.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.