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How To Be 60 with Kaye Adams

How To Be 60 with Kaye Adams

Louise Doughty: The Suitcase That Rewrote My Parents' Love Story

Oct 8, 2026 · 54m

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On this episode

About this episode

On this week's episode, we're joined by Louise Doughty, who found a rusted black suitcase at the bottom of her late mum's wardrobe and nearly put it out with the bins. Inside were scores of undated letters charting the secret affair her parents had in 1950s Melton Mowbray, when her dad was a married man and her mum was his boss's secretary. Louise tells us how she pieced them together, why her parents took the story to their graves, and how losing them to Alzheimer's and a sudden heart attack almost hid who they really were. There's also a sister who kept fishing things back out of the bin liners. She was right, as it turns out. Louise also talks about what clearing out a family home…