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Shattered Night
Recounts the events that led a battered wife to shoot her husband, a Texas surgeon, describes their strained marriage, and follows the course of her trial
- GenresTrue Crime
293 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 13, 2020
I'm a sucker for a true crime book.
So I initially started this book for two reasons:
1) My coworker's mom loaned it to me and I've had it for way too long
2) I needed a palate cleanser before I start my next big novel.
For some reason, I always end up reading some obscure true crime book to get myself back on track.
So, Shattered Night follows the Sandiford couple, Kay and Frank.
For those unfamiliar with the case, Kay shot her well-known heart surgeon of a husband.
So the book is broken into three parts; "The Shooting," "The Beginning," and "The Trial."
The shooting obviously grabs you in because it leads you on a goose chase as to why in the world Kay bought a gun and decided to use it on her husband. Very quickly we see Kay was not in the best place mentally. We hear her stories of how Frank beat her one night not long after they were wed. He thought he needed to teach his wife discipline.....with a good beating. Everything went downhill from there. She knew the kinds of moods he was in based on how in walked in the front door after work. She knew this was a marriage she needed out of.
This book dealt with Kay's mental state more than anything else. Yes, it talks about the shooting too. But mostly, it talks about how Kay went from subservient housewife to battered wife who kills her husband. It was all very textbook.
It was definitely a good read and the perfect true crime cleanse that I needed!
This review and more true crime reviews can be found at A Reader's Diary!
So I initially started this book for two reasons:
1) My coworker's mom loaned it to me and I've had it for way too long
2) I needed a palate cleanser before I start my next big novel.
For some reason, I always end up reading some obscure true crime book to get myself back on track.
So, Shattered Night follows the Sandiford couple, Kay and Frank.
For those unfamiliar with the case, Kay shot her well-known heart surgeon of a husband.
So the book is broken into three parts; "The Shooting," "The Beginning," and "The Trial."
The shooting obviously grabs you in because it leads you on a goose chase as to why in the world Kay bought a gun and decided to use it on her husband. Very quickly we see Kay was not in the best place mentally. We hear her stories of how Frank beat her one night not long after they were wed. He thought he needed to teach his wife discipline.....with a good beating. Everything went downhill from there. She knew the kinds of moods he was in based on how in walked in the front door after work. She knew this was a marriage she needed out of.
This book dealt with Kay's mental state more than anything else. Yes, it talks about the shooting too. But mostly, it talks about how Kay went from subservient housewife to battered wife who kills her husband. It was all very textbook.
It was definitely a good read and the perfect true crime cleanse that I needed!
This review and more true crime reviews can be found at A Reader's Diary!
October 31, 2011
True story of a battered wife who goes to trial for killing her heart surgeon husband.
January 26, 2016
A good study of a longstanding domestic-violence situation, and what happened the day the battered partner got out a gun and ended it.
December 14, 2013
This is the story of an abused wife who shot and killed her abusive husband.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews