Fred and Rose - The Full Story of Fred and Rose West and the Gloucester House of Horrors - Howard Sounes

Fred and Rose - The Full Story of Fred and Rose West and the Gloucester House of Horrors, by Howard Sounes, is a highly readable and reasonably comprehensive account of one of the most infamous criminal cases in British history.

I had watched numerous television documentaries about the case, but sensed that something was missing, and that only when I had read a credible and full written document would my understanding be properly augmented. This work by Howard Sounes fulfilled that function quite admirably.

There is lots of good and illustrative background on Fred West's early life in Herefordshire, and indeed much illuminating material concerning the early life of both Fred and Rose, their living conditions, and their family scenarios. The author I feel plays down to an extent some of the more speculative and outlandish aspects of the story which are routinely told even in the mainstream media.

As this is a coherent and carefully sequenced account, it is easier to understand and ruminate on how the constituent parts of the story developed, and how the dynamics between the two main participants came to bring disaster. The gaps which are left in documentaries are necessarily filled in here, and they reveal a clearer and fuller picture.

The story becomes gradually more lurid and graphic as it goes on, and mini-biographies of the victims and their families make it more real, as they underline just what was lost and just what was endured and suffered, and how many lives were affected forever by these terrible events.

I was enlightened by the passages and anecdotes which deal with the time spent on remand by Frederick and Rosemary West, how they coped with that period, and how their attitudes to each other altered. The same portions of the book also examine the impact of the investigation and ongoing revelations on the families of the couple.

The trial of Rosemary West is covered in some detail, and this helps to provide a more rounded and complete flavour to this telling of the story. People from the past, who had been mentioned in the earlier pages, now resurfaced. The full complexity and magnitude of the case, and the logistics and organisation of the investigation and the trial, are also brought across to the reader.

At various stages of the book, Sounes devotes attention to what might be termed "peripheral" characters, but these individuals and their experiences add greater depth and context to the narrative.

As the format of a book such as this allows the basic framework of the story to be filled out considerably, and for nuance to be introduced, I began to see several of the main characters in the drama in a new light, because of revelations detailed here. This all reinforces my view that books are the most telling, reliable and representative form of learning and education. Television documentaries should only really be viewed as a "catalyst" to stimulate additional research and exploration of any given subject.

The closing sections of the book offer some interesting analysis of the reasons why the tragic events evolved as they did.

In my opinion this is a fine book, which tells the horrific story in quite a measured way, although in places there is little escaping the disturbing nature of the subject matter.