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Beyond Belief: A Chronicle of Murder and its Detection (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1967) (1968 paperback: ISBN 978-0-330-02088-6) is a semi-fictionalized account of the Moors murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, by the Welsh author and playwright, Emlyn Williams. As such, it may be classified as a nonfiction novel. [1]
First published in 1967, a year after the Moors murderers were sentenced to life imprisonment, the book is a mixture of reportage, speculation, literary allusions, and stream-of-consciousness writing—with phonetically rendered dialogue and eye dialect used to reflect the heavy regional accents and speech idioms of the working class milieu in Manchester and Glasgow. Williams also makes use of interior monologues to suggest possible explanations as to the killers' motives and state of mind leading up to their crimes.
The book has much in common with the genre of writing known as New Journalism since it narrates an actual murder case through the author's own creative interpretations and idiosyncratic literary style. In this sense, Beyond Belief can be considered a "nonfiction novel" in the manner of Meyer Levin's 1956 book Compulsion (about the Leopold and Loeb case) and Truman Capote's 1966 masterpiece In Cold Blood (about the Clutter murders). (Ironically, Compulsion was one of Ian Brady's favorite books, which he gave Myra Hindley to read shortly after they began their relationship in December 1961.)
The book's chapters begin with epigraphs from other sources that are not always relevant to the murders, chosen by Williams in an attempt to evoke the mood in working-class Britain at that time. An example: for one chapter dealing with the murder spree itself, Williams quotes the Dave Clark Five song "Catch Us If You Can"—as if these words described the murderers' attitude at the time.
As a work of literature, critics have not held Beyond Belief in the same high esteem as other crime-related nonfiction novels like In Cold Blood or Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song (1980). Indeed, the book seems to have fallen out of favor because many of Emlyn Williams' suggestions and theories about the Moors murders have since been disproven in subsequent years.
Williams' florid prose style, questionable characterizations, and frequent discretionary editorializations on the events (both proven and alleged) have come to be regarded as overly speculative and sensationalistic, as well as rather quaintly stereotypical and dated. That the author had minimal contact with most of the individuals involved in the case—and had therefore seen fit to invent fictitious scenes and dialogue, and embellish certain details to account for what was not publicly known at the time—has also been a source of criticism. However he did spend valuable research time with David Smith and his wife (Hindley's sister)—this is referred to in the recent book Evil Relations by Carol Ann Lee.
Beyond Belief was a bestseller in Britain in the years following its publication and was a main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club in the United States. It has been reported that Myra Hindley strongly objected to Emlyn Williams' account of her relationship with Ian Brady, and that during the early years of her sentence, she implored friends and family not to read the book.
The book is mentioned by the character Amyl Nitrate (played by Jordan) at the beginning of Derek Jarman's punk-themed cult movie Jubilee (1977). It was also the source for much of the detail mentioned in the song "Suffer Little Children" (1984) by the Manchester pop group The Smiths. Smiths frontman Morrissey was a fan of the book, and it has been suggested that the book's frequent references to David and Maureen Smith (who ultimately were responsible for leading the police to the murderers) as "the Smiths" inspired the band's name. [2] The book is also cited by Alan Moore as part of the source material for his Eisner Award-winning graphic novel From Hell , specifically inspiring a brief scene in which Hindley and Brady are depicted attending a film about Jack the Ripper.
Moor or Moors may refer to:
Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, known to his family as Frank Longford and styled Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician and social reformer. A member of the Labour Party, he was one of its longest-serving politicians. He held cabinet positions on several occasions between 1947 and 1968. Longford was politically active until his death in 2001. A member of an old, landed Anglo-Irish family, the Pakenhams, he was one of the few aristocratic hereditary peers ever to serve in a senior capacity within a Labour government.
George Emlyn Williams, CBE was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor.
The Moors murders were a series of child killings committed by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in and around Manchester, England, between July 1963 and October 1965. The victims were five children—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans—aged between 10 and 17, at least four of whom were sexually assaulted. The bodies of two of the victims were discovered in 1965, in graves dug on Saddleworth Moor; a third grave was discovered there in 1987, more than twenty years after Brady and Hindley's trial. Bennett's body is also thought to be buried there, but despite repeated searches it remains undiscovered.
Hattersley is an area of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England; it is located 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Glossop and 10 miles (16 km) east of Manchester, at the eastern terminus of the M67. Historically part of Tintwistle Rural District in Cheshire until 1974, it is the site of an overspill estate built by Manchester City Council in the 1960s.
Gorton is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, North West England. It is to the southeast of Manchester city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw.
"Suffer Little Children" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. It was included on The Smiths in February 1984 and as a B-side to the May 1984 single "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now".
See No Evil is part of the adage "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."
The A635 is a main road that runs between Manchester and Doncaster running east–west through Stalybridge, Saddleworth Moor, Holmfirth, Barnsley and the Dearne Valley. The section forming the eastern part of the Mancunian Way is a motorway and is officially designated as the A635(M) though there is no road sign with this designation, and the signs at the entrance of Mancunian Way westbound show A57(M).
In England and Wales, life imprisonment is a sentence that lasts until the death of the prisoner, although in most cases the prisoner will be eligible for parole after a minimum term set by the judge. In exceptional cases a judge may impose a "whole life order", meaning that the offender is never considered for parole, although they may still be released on compassionate grounds at the discretion of the Home Secretary. Whole life orders are usually imposed for aggravated murder, and can only be imposed where the offender was at least 21 years old at the time of the offence being committed.
Saddleworth Moor is a moorland in North West England. Reaching more than 1,312 feet (400 m) above sea level, it is in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park. It is crossed by the A635 road and the Pennine Way passes to its eastern side.
HM Prison Durham is a Georgian era reception Category B men's prison, located in the Elvet area of Durham in County Durham, England. Built in 1819, the prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Its women prisoners were all moved out to other prisons in 2005 due to overcrowding and suicides.
See No Evil: The Moors Murders is a two-part British television serial, directed by Christopher Menaul, produced by Granada Television and broadcast on ITV on 14 and 15 May 2006. The serial tells the story of the Moors murders, which were committed, between July 1963 and October 1965, by Myra Hindley and Ian Brady. The narrative is from the viewpoint of Hindley's sister, Maureen Smith, and her husband David.
Events from the year 1965 in the United Kingdom.
Longford is a 2006 British biographical crime drama television film directed by Tom Hooper and written by Peter Morgan. The film centres on Labour Party peer Lord Longford and his campaign for the parole of Moors Murderer Myra Hindley. It was produced by Granada Productions for Channel 4, in association with HBO, and stars Jim Broadbent and Samantha Morton. The film was first broadcast on Channel 4 on October 26, 2006 and was an Official Selection at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Broadbent won the British Academy Television Award and a Golden Globe for his role.
"Catch Us If You Can" is a 1965 song from The Dave Clark Five, written by group's drummer Dave Clark and guitarist Lenny Davidson. It was the title song for the film of the same name, which was retitled Having a Wild Weekend in the United States. The single reached number five in the UK and number four in the US.
John Deane Potter, born in Anglesey in Wales in October 1912, brought up in Liverpool, became a Fleet Street journalist, columnist and popular writer in the 1950s and 1960s. He died in Sidmouth on 19 March 1981, aged 68.
Carol Ann Lee is an English author and biographer who has written extensively on Anne Frank, the Holocaust and on the crimes of Moors Murderers Myra Hindley and Ian Brady.
Sir William Lloyd Mars-Jones, MBE was a Welsh barrister and High Court judge. He presided over several high-profile criminal trials.
Maggie Wall, was believed to have been burned as a witch. She is best known for the memorial monument in Dunning, Perthshire inscribed with "Maggie Wall burnt here 1657 as a witch". The skull of Maggie Wall is claimed to be on display in the Saracen Head pub in Gallowgate, Glasgow.