The Tragic Bride is a novel based on a true event which is written by Francis Brett Young. The story of Frances Shea, wife of Reggie Kray, is one of the most tragic stories of the Sixties. Frances was lured into an outwardly glamorous world of nightclubs, expensive clothes, and showbiz parties, but soon discovered the real world of the Kray Twins, where violence, drink, drugs, and terror dominated everything. She broke away and briefly enjoyed other relationships, but Reggie would never let her go. Frances and her family were intricately entwined with the Twins' descent from gangland extortion and cruelty into senseless murder and mayhem by the time she wed Reggie in their 'Wedding of the Year' in 1965. Frances passed away from a heroin overdose two years later. Now, 50 years later, the truth about the life of Frances Shea and her short marriage to Reggie Kray is finally revealed in this novel. This book explodes the myths surrounding the marriage and reveals how the effect of this tragic, doomed relationship haunted the lives of Frances's loved ones right to the end.
Francis Brett Young was an English novelist, poet, playwright, composer, doctor, and soldier who lived from 29 June 1884 to 28 March 1954. In the Worcestershire town of Halesowen, Francis Brett Young was born. He attended Iona, a private school in Sutton Coldfield, for his early schooling. Given that both his mother and father are doctors, Thomas Brett Young, it was only fitting that he attend Epsom College, a school for doctors' sons. When his mother passed away when he was fourteen, he was present. Like many writers, he based his settings and characters on locations and jobs he was familiar with. There is a lot of information provided on the sea, warfare, and medical procedures taking place in locations as different as the West Midlands and West Country of England and South Africa. A number of his works from this time period, including his first published book Deep Sea (1914), is set in the West Midlands, while Portrait of Clare (1927) is set in Brixham. A portion of The Iron Age (1916) takes place at Ludlow, Shropshire. A group of interconnected novels, loosely based on the English West Midlands and Welsh Borders, served as Francis Brett Young's life's work.
