to think this couple in the guardian are strange and this was not an appropriate subject for a book?

[HildegardVonBingham]

My jaw was on the floor as I read this. Obviously it’s awful that they were subjected to a campaign of harassment, absolutely no excuses. But I do think it’s insensitive to write a whole BOOK about it, given that the perpetrators killed themselves in a double suicide?! I also don’t know who just lends a neighbour £10k!!! Whole piece compounds my suspicion of everyone who chooses to live in the arse end of nowhere…. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/05/dream-home-turned-nightmare-in-wales-stalker-neighbours-stalked-book

I don’t know why you’d expect these people to be sensitive to the memory of dead people who petrol bombed them, cut off their water supply, shot at their windows with crossbows and subjected them to a campaign of harassment and intimidation?

It was certainly an interesting read.

Well they write well for a start, so I can see why they would want to apply those skills.

Sometimes the only way to deal with trauma is to transform it through a creative act. So, I don’t think it’s weird.

It was too long for a teaser in the guardian because I don’t need to read the book now.

@LimestonePavement why would you want to re-live the trauma of that happening by writing a book about it? Obviously the man and woman who harassed them did something terrible, but I just find it weird. I also thought some of the writing had an AI tone.

It was like one of those psychological crime novels come to life. They kind of had to write about it. Certainly makes you wary about over friendly new neighbours

I found it a very odd read, the way it was written was awful so many over the top flourishes and descriptions it really jarred with me.
It also made no sense, that the neighbour told the husband he was like a dad to him for example, it was never really conveyed that they ever liked them.

The big drama when ‘Cassie’ started the war by taking a friend over their river land felt like a non event.
It almost read like AI and I couldn’t decide if it was just terribly written or I didn’t like the people or their story.

It was very much giving The Salt Path vibes to me , trying to stir the hearts and book buying wallets of naive middle class readers shook that one of their own just trying their best had faced such misfortune.
It’ll probably be a tv drama before we know it.

I would be very interested to read an objective account that explains the other couple’s actions, motivations and demise.

There are many, many books written by people who have something terrible happen to them. I would imagine it is cathartic to get it down on paper. A way for working through what happened and lots of people, like me, enjoy reading books like this.

Have a look at carthartic in the OED.

Because they never got any answers, as the guy changed his plea to guilty so they never even got to hear what his defence was in court, or to speak themselves.

Wavewalker is a gods example and a great read.

It reads like an extended Take A Break cover story. Very odd.

I agree @HildegardVonBingham. I read this article yesterday and something just felt off to me. Not the story in itself, but the way it was written and details not adding up. I don't believe it.

Well at that comment this thread changed for me from ‘why are the couple so strange’ to ‘why is OP so strange’.

Writing (and talking) about a traumatic event is an extremely common way to process it.

’Burying’ traumatic events by not mentioning them is now widely seen as damaging.

How can you not be aware of this?!

Well, press coverage of the inquest says the woman suffered from chronic pain after a road accident in Thailand and the man, an ex-Para, had been diagnosed with severe psychotic depression with a history of suicidal ideation, and that his father, who was in the SAS, had died by suicide in his childhood. He served eight months for intimidation, threats, harassment and petrolbombing the neighbours. Emails from an untraceable account including threats of gang tape, dog poisoning, fire. Books in his house included US military ones on making improvised incendiary devices and unconventional warfare, and he had a large quantity of amphetamines. Internet searches included ones into making Molotov cocktails. He also had six previous convictions.

They left end of life notes, had two of their dogs put to sleep, she took a drug overdose. He died by hanging. No suggestion of coercion or anything but a suicide pact.

I thought exactly the same thing!!! It sounds like an AI assisted, overly dramatic and poorly written crime thriller novel. I found it utterly baffling why they would synopsise something like that in the Guardian. Maybe one of them has personal connections with an editor or something.

It also seemed appallingly poor taste to profit over the double suicide of another couple. There is also no context given at all about where they came from and there must still be living family members around.

I don’t think it’s weird to write about a traumatic experience, but I did find the story weird. Why did they think they were entitled to that bit of land given they’d never actually bought it, why on earth did they lend some new neighbour money, why were they so bothered someone had been on their land briefly? Either it was a really badly selected bit from the book with too many linking paragraphs left out that would have made it make more sense, or it’s just really badly written. It also reminded me of The Salt Path.

What was in the Guardian was a synopsis I'm supposing. Presumably there was more to it.

Just reinforces my feeling that there are some complete fruit loops out there (if MN didn't provide enough examples 😳)

I contemplated writing about previous trauma, not as a money-making exercise but as a way of healing. In the end I didn’t but I completely understand why they did it.

Good luck to them, it sounds like an awful time.

They are not overcoming trauma. They have turned the experience into a badly written AI-slop book and trying to get rich off it.

Fine not to personally like it, but bear in mind they were also defrauded out of £25k, so of they can get some of that back from a book good for them.

You think they wrote it themselves?! It felt extremely clunky and cliched, like a badly paid ghost writer or our good friend ChatGPT. It's like one of those forgettable crime novels you buy on holiday, skim it by the pool and then bin it when you leave.

Think they lent closer to £25,000, after being ‘groomed’ into friendship. Happens often enough.

Since the police reports (for all the targeted harassment etc) are all verifiable I don’t think it can be too far from the truth.

If anything they seem quite naive.

To process it? To tell their story? 🙄

You're suspicious of anyone who 'lives in the arse-end of nowhere'?

Why?

I work within the AI sphere and would bet a substantial amount that it was written with AI. The descriptive details, the sentence structure, the metaphors that are a little bit off. All the tells are there.
I read it yesterday and immediately noticed it. My first thought was that it was possibly another Saltpath.
But it's clearly not fabricated as the court case and investigation appears to have happened and are documented.
I suspect they used AI to either help put the book together or to try rewrite their story to a professional standard.
As others have said, giving that much money to people you don't really know is really odd behaviour. All in all, a curious article.

Fine not to personally like it, but bear in mind they were also defrauded out of £25k, so of they can get some of that back from a book good for them.

He should just ask the police to sell the Harley Davidson belonging to his dead neighbour that was allegedly bought with his money.