Afternoon Reading - The Burying of Joe Bloggs - Shirley May

One of three specially-commissioned stories by Frances Fyfield examining the life of the deceased, from the perspectives of those who knew - or thought they knew - him best: his first love, his wife, and his trusted and shadowy lawyer. Joe Bloggs, or JB, or Joseph Benedict is dead: 'What a pity.' But he was a very different man to each of them, and similarly, the nature of that pity is very different. Shirley May met Joe at an East End funeral and lived with him for ten years before 'he went and married someone else'. He was a man of secrets and 'junk', but in her heart she never really let him go. The week before he died he sent her a key through the post, but the key to what? Readers: Sophie Stanton, Liza Ross and Hugh Ross Producer: Karen Rose A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.