Show Notes
Shelley Anne Crawford grew up on a South African farm where the map ran out. In Chapter 3 of her memoir My 3 Husbands: A True Story, she goes back to the childhood that taught her to read a silence.
In this third episode of the My 3 Husbands Book Cast, Shelley reads Chapter 3, "The Edge of the Fireline," and then sits down with her editor, Dr. Kent Gustavson, to talk about what she just read. The farm sat in the dry hills outside the Valley of a Thousand Hills. At six she was left in charge of her grandmother, who waved her off with a cigarette and a drink four evenings running, then told Shelley's mother that Shelley had not fed her. Her brother Peter was six years older and born on the same day, with the body of a man and the mind of a child. When the local boys threw stones at him, she threw them back. Because the real world did not protect her, she built another one. By seven she had a riding school with no horses and no clients, a clearing for a paddock and lesson plans she kept in her head. When things came too close she became a librarian instead, lining her dolls up in neat rows and stamping imaginary books. She tells Kent she still uses both, in her head and out with her horses. Dr. Kent tells her this short chapter lays the canvas for the whole book. Tune in to hear why a childhood that reads as extraordinary now felt normal at the time, and why Kent calls the last line one of the best cliffhangers he has read. Content Warning: This episode contains references to death, bodies, and hanging, which some listeners may find distressing. Please take care while listening. If you or someone you know is struggling: Samaritans (UK & Ireland): Call 116 123 Pieta (Ireland): Call 1800 247 247
Chapters: 📖 00:04 Shelley Anne Crawford introduces chapter three, and a note before listening 🔥 01:20 Learning at four to notice the stillness before danger 🪨 02:09 Peter, born on the same day, and the stones she threw back 🍽️ 03:07 Six years old, in charge of a grandmother who would not eat 🐎 04:45 A riding school with no horses and a library in her head 🖋️ 06:39 Roy Campbell's The Zulu Girl, and why all of it felt normal 💡 10:16 Where her resilience work actually started, and why she still uses it 🎨 14:19 A short chapter that lays the canvas for the whole book 🪝 15:59 The cliffhanger she did not know she was writing Links Connect with Shelley: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shelleyannecrawford2026 Substack: shelleyannecrawford.substack.com Website: www.jessglobal.org
More from My 3 Husbands Book Cast
At 17, far from home and longing to be seen, Shelley Anne Crawford was given a gift that asked more of her than she understood.
At 17, Shelley Anne Crawford boarded a plane for a scholarship year in America, under a rule that she could not call home for three months. Chapter 6 of her memoir My 3 Husbands: A True Story follows what that silence did to the relationship she left behind.
In Chapter 5 of her memoir My 3 Husbands, Shelley Anne Crawford is 17 and swept up in a whirlwind romance when she meets the mother who treats her like a rival.
At 17, Shelley Anne Crawford ignored the first red flag from the charming man she would later marry. Chapter 4 of her memoir, My Three Husbands: A True Story, is where her intuition spoke up and she chose not to listen.
In this second episode of the My 3 Husbands Book Cast, Shelley reads Chapter 2, "The Crack in the Glass," and then sits down with her editor, Dr. Kent Gustavson, to talk about what she just read.