Frances: The Tragic Bride Paperback – August 1, 2015

This book tells THE most disturbing account as to what was going on behind the scenes between Frances Shea and Reggie Kray. In a word: horrific. After reading, it's obvious why Frances fell into deep despair to where she felt there was no out for her except suicide.Also a pity and a shame that women in that time period (1960s) were forced to turn a deaf ear/blind eye to abusive treatment from men, especially if they were their husbands.The ending, is definitely a shocker in and of itself. (Spoiler alert!) After reading it, I believe one will be reminded of a TV series (not naming the series here) in which a similar situation lead to a bad end.For those who are interested in the details of this infamous "marriage" (which it really wasn't much of one) I strongly recommend the purchase.

What if? What if I had moved to London in the early 60s as I had dreamed I'd do all my life? What if I, a secretary, had gone to an East End nightclub one night and met Frances Shea? Frances was my age and also a secretary. She even resembled me at that age. Our hairstyle and make-up were also identical. Being the sensitive, sheltered girl I was, Frances and I would have hit it off immediately, I am sure. After meeting her boyfriend Reggie Kray, I would have probably preferred Ron, his twin. Why? He was mad, bad, and dangerous to know, as they used to say in London. Just the kind of man I was attracted to at that time. Sadly, 'what if' never happened. I arrived in London to live and work three weeks after Reggie and Ronnie were imprisoned for the last time in early 1969. I arrived far too late to help her. She had already taken her own life by then from an overdose of pills.Or did she?Years after the deaths of the Kray twins, people who knew them began opening up about what really happened during their reign of terror in the early 60 until they were finally put away. In more than one biography of the twins I have read that Reggie's jealous twin killed her. How? That we will never know. He was emotionally disturbed from a young age and ended his life at a mental institution for the criminally insane.This book was written by someone who knew the players, personally. Her father knew them. He was not, thankfully, part of their crime enterprise. The East End was a very tight community where everyone knew everyone else. Over the years the author tracked down many men and women who knew Frances' story personally. She tells the reader what she has learned from their stories. That said, they don't answer why Frances remained in such a toxic, unloving relationship with a notorious gangster.In the film, Legend, starring Tom Hardy playing both Ron and Reggie, she is depicted as a tiny, pretty neighborhood girl whose brother does odd jobs for Reg. They meet and Reg is totally smitten at first sight. Only problem is, she is 15 at the time. He is determined to marry her and they date for years until she is finally old enough to become his wife. Only problem is, she doesn't want to get married. She considers herself too young and immature. That said, he takes her on many foreign vacations (separate rooms) and showers her with clothes and jewelry. They eventually marry against her parents will. Her mother wears black to the wedding and Reg goes postal at the sight of her.When they return from the honeymoon (Greece) Frances is sullen and angry. While Reg continues to shower her with gifts, none of this matters to Frances. Why? She tells intimate friends that their marriage had not been consummated on the honeymoon. This is never mentioned in the film.In the beginning of the movie her brother tells Reg that his little sister had just come back home from having been in the hospital for a while 'for nerves.' So we know from the onset that Frances suffers from emotional problems. Back in the early 60s young women were never screened for bipolar disorder or manic depression. If you suffered highs and lows it was always connected to your period. How many women over the centuries were declared unfit or insane due to a hormonal imbalance? I am sure this was Frances' problem. She suffered through additional bouts of depression before her untimely death and even received electric shock treatments in a hospital for her mood swings.As her 'marriage' implodes and her brother-in-laws hatred of her escalates, she moves back home and changes her name from Kray to her maiden name, Shea. At the time of her 'suicide' she is petitioning the court for an annulment of her marriage. As far as Reggie and Ronnie are concerned, this ain't gonna happen! Reg's macho, gangsta, man-about-town reputation will be in threads. He will be the laughing stock. Conveniently, Frances is found dead in her brother's home from an overdose. She is buried by Reg in an elaborate funeral and her headstone reads KRAY not Shea. Her mother spits on Reg while visiting her daughters grave one afternoon, telling him he murdered her. She outlived both the Kray twins but suffered enormous loss for the rest of her life.Speculation has run rampant over the years as to why Reggie Kray never had sex with his wife. It was well known among certain men in his crowd that he was bisexual and had boyfriends in his teens. His brother Ron came out as gay even when it was a crime punishable by jail in the UK in those days. Ron Kray didn't care who knew about his boys. And there were many. Is it just possible that Reggie, who slept with prostitutes and his groupies over the years contracted an STD he didn't want to give to Frances? She was, after all, a virgin when they married. Alas, she was to die a virgin and would be buried in her wedding dress. Again, against the wishes of her parents. This is the only answer I can give for his never sleeping with her in their brief marriage. It makes perfect sense. To me, anyway.At the very end of the book Frances's brother finally discloses the truth of Reggie's relationship with his sister and why he married her. I certainly didn't see THAT coming! I will not ruin the book for you so you will have to read it yourself. It may be the truth, or it may be a story to free his sister's reputation from that whole sordid, tragic episode. We will never know. He died in the 2000s and took that knowledge with him. I choose to believe his story.I am grateful someone wrote Frances Shay Kray's story. She is merely a footnote and pretty picture in all the other books. The pretty young East Ender with her Jackie Kennedy style hair and movie star make-up. This book is as close as we will ever get to knowing what kind of person she was. And, as I mentioned above, I do wish I had met her. I know we would have become close friends. We were so much alike in many ways. I hope she has found peace on the other side with her mom, dad, brother and friends who missed her so terribly when she left them. Thank you, Jacky, for filling in the missing spaces.

This book is well written and seems to be as accurate as possible. The story is intriguing and so sad - she was only 23 yrs old!!

I have read about 1/3 and put book down. Francis not covered well up to the point I stopped reading. Hoping when and if I pick it up again the story will turn a corner and become interesting.

very informative story about a tragic young woman - well-written

Interesting read, very different than the movie portrayal

Interesting read, a tragic story. It looked like all glitz and glamor, but the kray story is far different than that

The book consists of NO rips or tears, it is completely new as promised. Can't wait to read!!

Over the years I have read a few biographies of the Krays and it struck me that behind the facade of Reggie Kray's first wedding there was a tragic story. Congratulations to Jacky Hyams for bringing this much neglected story to light at last and for producing a well researched and fascinating account of a lovely young woman.Frances Shea grew up in the East End and was only fifteen when she first met Reggie Kray, who was instantly captivated by this beautiful and intelligent young woman. This book details his pursuit of her, which turned into an obsession and the desire to possess her completely. The story then unfolds of how Frances was overwhelmed by the terrifying and violent world from which she could escape only by taking her own life.This is a fascinating account which does Frances justice at last. It examines the personalities of Frances and the twins and the forces which drove them with much insight and respect for the Shea family. It does not go into great detail of the Krays' criminal career (this has been well documented in other books) but this book is a valuable addition to the Kray canon because it makes it clear that the Kray Twins were two horrible criminals who are best forgotten

I first got interested in her life while watching the excellent movie LEGENDS about the Kray twins, both parts played by Tom Hardy. so I wanted to read more about her and enjoyed this book very much. A tragic story in every sense.

Very sad story.

Book is very good, just very disappointed in the time it took to get here.

Thankfully now that the Krays are long gone the self-invented "legend" of a couple of truly disgusting people is being eroded. It was always the brooding narcissistic psychopath that was Ronnie Kray's greatest wish to be seen in the same light as his heroes,Al Capone and the legendary gangsters of 1930's America,that he should have such heroes tells all right thinking people plenty about the man.I read Jacky Hyam's "France-The Tragic Bride shortly after reading the equally revelatory "Bringing Down The Krays" by Bobby Teale so the weird and not so wonderful side of what were actually a pair of vicious,predatory and deeply dysfunctional people wasn't a surprise.From both books the mother they idolised,the quite frankly awful Violet, appears to have ignored,if not condoned,acts of rape and sexual assault in her home by both of her vile offspring.Jacky Hyams book tells us of the "marriage",if it can be called that,of Frances Shea and Reggie Kray and the effect it had on the whole Shea family as well as the tragic Bride.As another reviewer has said the first part of the book is very familiar territory for the avid true crime buff and I found myself skipping through the "scene-setting" first couple of chapters hoping I hadn't wasted my money on yet another re-hash or a familiar tale. Thankfully it soon picks up and Ms Hyams gets into her stride with interviews from those "on the scene in the day" and eye-opening new information from Frances' Diary and her time in various psychiatric institutions.I did feel the book tended to try to paint her as saintly almost when the virgin bride was seeing at least one other person at the same time as Reg Kray and seemingly had a history of mental illness even before meeting her future husband.As with the Teale brothers the books shows how the terrible twins chewed up and spat out those around them and I'd guess many of those in the dock with them shortly at the Old Bailey have many stories that they'd never want to be made public let alone would write books about.Mix with the Krays and you were swimming with sharks,the closer you were the more chance you had that they'd get their hooks not only into you but your entirely family and suck the life out of it.The first couple of chapters of this book seemed rushed and "going through the motions",a shame as mostly it's a great read and hopefully another big step in demolishing the "Robin Hood" myth built up around a pair of evil scumbags,the world is a much better place without them.If those initial chapters had been to the standard of the rest I'd have gladly have given the book 5 stars.