But I think that if this book makes you feel more responsible for vulnerable children then you will have gained something positive from all the suffering outlined here. Although the section includes nowhere near as many of the gritty details surrounding Fred and Rose’s crimes, it still delivers one heck of a shocking punch – exposing the real emotional trauma to what happened and how Stephen and Mae tried to come to terms with what was now being uncovered in their own home. If I could gather up the West children and hug them all (and rescue Heather from their clutches), believe me I would. What there seems to be far less of are the stories told from the perspective of the killer's family; a snapshot of life at home behind the scenes and the unravelling and discovery of the horrific actions of their loved ones and whatever was to follow. But ultimately it’s the reaction of Fred West to his arrest and subsequent trial that leaves the coldest impression on the reader.

As a reader, you get a sense of how manipulative and deceptive he was and how he managed to hide his monstrous actions from those around him. The book is written in Stephen and Mae West’s own words which were taken from detailed interviews with the News Of The World newspaper. Mae is very loyal to her mum but admits her childhood was unusual , very strict and she had to put up with her fathers talk of sex. Read more about the condition Very Good: A book that has been read and does not look new, but is in excellent condition. But for those who wish to know the further gruesome details, I would recommend Colin Wilson's 'The Corpse Garden'.Because the book is largely interviews from the perspective of Mae and Stephen West, it gives a fascinating insight into life with Fred and Rose West. But it wasn’t just the visitors which Rose received that made life in 25 Cromwell St far from a normal, happy family life. It takes the reader through the early stages of Fred’s obsession with sex, how his perversions developed and inevitably turned towards his own offspring. Delivered in a chronological week-by-week account of the court case, the section once again provides a particularly interesting perspective on the highly-publicised trial; delivered again from the point-of-view of both Stephen and Mae West. It's hard to look at this objectively, because quite early on, Stephen in particular constantly repeats how much he still loves his mother, and Mae says how her father was 'just weird' and couldn't help behaving the way he did.

Nevertheless, this is a superb chance to try to understand the torture and torment that the West's victims suffered. They were inhabiting a living hell - a highly sexualised environment where extreme violence and sexual abuse was the norm. Without wanting to appear overly sceptical, one can’t help but feel that the two editors (no doubt fellow reporters for said newspaper) are more concerned with milking the story for all its worth than the actual rehabilitative welfare of Stephen and Mae. It’s a chilling account of the crimes committed by Fred and Rosemary West, and a stark reminder of the cruelty that some people are capable of.In conclusion, Inside 25 Cromwell Street is a book that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. By the time the reader has gone through these painful memories of escalating torment, it’s around the halfway mark of the book, and from the bitterness of the latter chapters in the first section, the second section of the book commences; detailing the time after discovering Heather’s body, during Fred West’s arrest and his subsequent suicide.

The book was evidently complied shortly after the death of Fred West in jail so the events are all so raw - and this shows in the interviews. One thing I really enjoyed about reading this was the humanity of Fred and Rose which was revealed in a way that only children really can see about their parents. Very much built around the uncovering of bodies and lengthy investigation into what went on, this second section reveals a vast amount of confusion and emotional conflict between Stephen and Mae.But their relationship together struggled, with Fred never really taking the marriage seriously despite Rena’s best efforts. Although the children were unaware of the murders going on, life at 25 Cromwell Street was certainly not wholesome or typical in any way. First published back in December of 1995, Stephen and Mae West’s book ‘Inside 25 Cromwell St’ provided a unique first-person account of their upbringing as two of the surviving children from Fred and Rosemary West’s family.