“Because This Is Texas” and “Before We Turn To Dust” present a compelling approach to one of Texas’s most infamous family tragedies
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, January 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Acclaimed Texas author and historian Clara Sneed examines one of the most notorious episodes in Texas history through two complementary works: the nonfiction #1 Amazon bestseller Because This Is Texas: An Account of the Sneed–Boyce Feud and the historical novel Before We Turn to Dust. Together, the books explore the early-20th-century Sneed–Boyce feud, pairing rigorous historical research with a fictional interpretation that illuminates the emotional consequences of the tragic events set off by an explosive love triangle involving John “Beal” Sneed, his wife Lena, and her lover Albert G. Boyce, Jr.
Sneed, the great-niece of Beal Sneed, brings a rare firsthand perspective to a story that has long fascinated historians, legal scholars, and readers. While earlier accounts often emphasized the sensational violence, her work also examines the broader social and cultural forces, honor culture, gender expectations, and social norms that shaped both the trials and the lives entangled in them.
“I first began researching this story in the 1990s,” Sneed explains. “Many writers had attempted to tell it before, but key information was inaccessible. From the beginning, I felt a responsibility to investigate the full context and tell the story as honestly and carefully as possible.” During her research, Albert G. “Pete” Boyce granted Sneed access to a cache of Lena’s private letters to her lover Al that had been previously unknown outside the Boyce family. “Given the history between our families, Pete’s generosity and trust were enormous gifts, and the letters themselves proved to be revelatory,” Sneed says.
Because This Is Texas is Sneed’s non-fiction chronicle of the sensational events that unfolded between 1911 and 1912 after Lena told Beal that she wanted a divorce to marry Al. The ‘biggest case in the history of Texas’, as it was called at the time, saw Lena incarcerated in a sanitarium as morally insane, international legal wrangling, exhaustive newspaper coverage, and multiple killings. Beal Sneed was tried three times and fully acquitted by Texas juries, an outcome famously explained by one juror: “Because this is Texas.”
In contrast, Before We Turn to Dust approaches the same history through fiction, allowing Sneed to explore the story’s emotional interior from the intimate perspective of each member of the triangle, in ways the historical record alone cannot.
In commenting on Before We Turn to Dust, Chip Chandler of Brick & Elm Magazine notes, “Possibly the most fascinating aspect is that this book wouldn’t have happened had descendants from both sides of the feud not worked together to reveal the true story.”
Sneed concurs. “Both books would have been entirely different without the cooperation of Boyce family members. Cameron Moore, a direct descendant, wrote me that Before We Turn to Dust had captured the sense of persistent pain this story has carried across the generations in her family. That touched me so deeply. All these years later, two families who were once friends and became bitter enemies are healing the generational wounds and becoming friends again.”
About Clara Sneed
Clara Sneed is a Texas-born author and historian whose work explores the intersection of justice, culture, and family legacy. She holds both a BA and an MA in English Literature from the University of California, Berkeley, and has balanced her writing career with professional roles in IT management and language and writing instruction. Her publications include Because This Is Texas: An Account of the Sneed–Boyce Feud, originally published in the Panhandle-Plains Historical Review and republished by Blue Handle Publishing in June 2025, and the historical novel Before We Turn to Dust, published by Blue Handle Publishing in December 2024.
Explore the research, writing, and historical works of Clara Sneed at her official website: https://www.clarasneed.com/
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