In 1919 Sian Busby's great-grandmother gave birth to triplets. One of the babies died at birth, and eleven days later she drowned the surviving twins in a bath of cold water. She was sentenced to an indefinite term in a prison for the criminally insane. For generations to come, the author's family dealt with the murders and the accompanying shame, guilt, and anxiety by suppressing the disturbing memory. It wasn't until Busby began to experience severe bouts of postpartum depression herself that she felt compelled to learn more about this shadowy story, ultimately immersing herself in the puzzling and horrific tragedy that had quietly shaped her family's collective history. In Cruel Mother, Busby digs out her own postpartum depression, by re-creating not only the broader reality of post-WWI working class England, but the more intimate setting in which her great-grandmother tried to raise a family. In the process, Busby brings ghosts to very real and familiar life, making these unexpected and inexplicable deaths that much more tragic. Ultimately, Busby and the reader are left not only with new understanding, but heartfelt empathy for all involved.

The Cruel Mother: A Memoir

Biographies & Memoirs

Busby, Siân

Community & Culture

Carroll & Graf Pub.

London, July 1946. A woman's body is found in a disused bomb site off the Holloway Road. She is identified as Lillian Frobisher, 'a respectable wife and mother' who lived with her family nearby. The police assume that Lillian must have been the victim of a sexual assault; but when the autopsy finds no evidence of rape, they turn their attention to her private life... How did she come to be in the bomb site, a well-known lovers' haunt? Why was her husband seemingly unaware that she'd failed to come home on the night she was killed?

A Commonplace Killing

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

Isis Large Print

Set in the bleakness and confusion of post-WWII London, this gripping psychological thriller unravels the double life of a seemingly proper middle-class woman found strangled to death. On a damp July morning in 1946, two schoolboys find a woman’s body in a bomb site in north London. The woman is identified as Lillian Frobisher, a wife and mother who lived in a war-damaged terrace a few streets away. The police assume that Lil must have been the victim of a vicious sexual assault; but the autopsy finds no evidence of rape, and Divisional Detective Inspector Jim Cooper turns his attention to her private life. How did Lil come to be in the bomb site – a well-known lovers’ haunt? If she had consensual sex, why was she strangled? Why was her husband seemingly unaware that she had failed to come home on the night she was killed? In this gripping murder story, Siân Busby gradually peels away the veneer of stoicism and respectability to reveal the dark truths at the heart of postwar austerity Britain.

A Commonplace Killing: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

Atria Books/Marble Arch Press

On a damp July morning in 1946, two schoolboys find a woman's body in a bomb site in north London. The woman is identified as Lillian Frobisher, a wife and mother who lived in a war-damaged terrace a few streets away. The police assume that Lil must have been the victim of a vicious sexual assault; but the autopsy finds no evidence of rape, and Divisional Detective Inspector Jim Cooper turns his attention to her private life.  How did Lil come to be in the bomb site  -  a well-known lovers' haunt? If she had consensual sex, why was she strangled? Why was her husband seemingly unaware that she had failed to come home on the night she was killed?  In this gripping murder story, Sian Busby gradually peels away the veneer of stoicism and respectability to reveal the dark truths at the heart of postwar austerity Britain.

Short Books

British & Irish

Short Books Ltd

On a winter's day in 1869, two surgeons performed an autopsy on the body of a 12-year-old Welsh girl who had died in strange circumstances. Though very beautiful, there were signs that she had suffered greatly towards the end. This is the true story of a remarkable child, who enchanted everyone, but who, at the age of 10, suddenly took to her bed. During the last 2 years of her life she allegedly had nothing to eat or drink at all, and yet mysteriously survived. Sarah Jacob's family claimed she was a miracle, and as her fame grew, thousands flocked to her bedside. Was she living on thin air? Doctors felt compelled to investigate and began a round-the-clock vigil which quickly killed her. Sarah Jacob was a tragic child celebrity—a victim of the era in which she lived, when Science and Faith were grappling with the conscience of man.

A Wonderful Little Girl: The True Story of Sarah Jacob the Welsh Fasting Girl

Health, Fitness & Dieting

A Wonderful Little Girl: Starving for Fame: How Sarah Jacobs Bewitched the World

Historical

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