That background is a mash up of a few true crime stories over the past decades, except more people actually survive. I always think of those stories in light of "what happens to the survivors?" So, this is a survivor story... Capt. Ludlow is the survivor who determined not to pass the trauma on ... so, the next two generations are safe, out from under the shadow. A happier ending than most ... I do what I can in fiction to show a theoretical way forward.