Anyone else have a relative in the family tree above you that is truly awful?
Was talking to my mom about ideas for my next novel, and she said I should base it on my great-grandfather. My last novel was a murder mystery about a serial killer in Idaho. Why would I base the next one on my great-grandfather??
She explained to me about how he was infamous for being hot-tempered, violent, and cruel. His 2nd wife died under suspicious circumstances when she fell from his Model T Ford shortly after she revealed that she was pregnant. He hated children and didn't want any more, which is why he left my great-grandmother and married a younger woman who was supposedly barren.
But, surprisingly, she became pregnant and within a month, fell from the moving vehicle for an unknown reason at 35 mph and lingered a few days in a coma, then died.
My mom revealed all this to me, thinking it would inspire me to write my next novel.
No. It did not. It was awful to find out that I am descended from such an evil and selfish SOB. His son, my grandfather, was a notorious drunk and horse trainer who cheated on my grandmother multiple times. He died before I was born. My grandmother died when I was 4 years old, and physically abused my mother and was a cold and hardened woman.
My dad's side of the family is not much better. No murders that I'm aware of, but certainly dysfunctional with lots of emotional abuse.
Anyone else discover that their ancestors were just awful?