Love as Always, Mum xxx: The true and terrible story of surviving a childhood with Fred and Rose West

Mae West

Sep 2018 · Seven Dials · Narrated by Julia Barrie

About this audiobook

'A CHILLING new memoir by the daughter of mass murderer Fred West and his wife Rose describes the savage cruelty of her upbringing in 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester' DAILY MAIL

'Mae, I mean this ... I'm not a good person and I let all you children down ...' Rose West, HM PRISON DURHAM

It has taken over 20 years for Mae West to find the perspective and strength to tell her remarkable story: one of an abusive, violent childhood, of her serial killer parents and how she has rebuilt her life in the shadow of their terrible crimes.

Through her own memories, research and the letters her mother wrote to her from prison, Mae shares her emotionally powerful account of her life as a West. From a toddler locked in the deathly basement to a teen fighting off the sexual advances of her father, Mae's story is one of survival. It also answers the questions: how do you come to terms with knowing your childhood bedroom was a graveyard? How do you accept the fact your parents sexually tortured, murdered and dismembered young women? How do you become a mother yourself when you're haunted by the knowledge that your own mother was a monster? Why were you spared and how do you escape the nightmare?

Ratings and reviews

A truly harrowing book fully detailing the graphic gruesome trauma Fred & Rose inflicted on their poor victims - Mae finding herself in a approach-avoid position to her rotten parents and trying to find a new life out the other side of the most extreme of back stories. The displaced life of a child disorganized attachment and how will she find herself in a world that is suspicious of her family' origins. Brilliantly narrated and Mae succeeding breaking the cycle of trauma her devil parents did.

Wasn't near as good as I was expecting it to be

Good read 📚

About the author

Mae West moved from Gloucester as soon as she could. She has rebuilt a life for herself and her family, but still lives in the shadow of her parents' crimes.

Neil McKay has written extensively for radio, television and film to great acclaim. He met Mae whilst writing Appropriate Adult, a drama about Fred West, for which he received the Writer's Guild of Great Britain award for best single drama. Other credits include This is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, which won the broadcast award for best single drama, and See no Evil: The Moors Murders, which won the BAFTA for best drama series.