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The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction and of the Goodreads Choice Award for History & Biography
The award-winning, best-selling book that changes the narrative of the “Ripper” murders forever
Polly, Annie, Elisabeth, Catherine, and Mary Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. They came from some of London’s wealthiest and poorest neighborhoods, from the factory towns of middle England, and from Wales and Sweden. They wrote ballads, ran coffeehouses, lived on country estates; they breathed ink dust from printing presses and escaped human traffickers.
What they had in common was the year of their murders: 1888. The person responsible was never identified, but the character created by the press to fill that gap has become far more famous than any of these five women. Now, in this gripping narrative of five lives, Hallie Rubenhold finally sets the record straight and gives these women back their stories.
The award-winning, best-selling book that changes the narrative of the “Ripper” murders forever
Polly, Annie, Elisabeth, Catherine, and Mary Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. They came from some of London’s wealthiest and poorest neighborhoods, from the factory towns of middle England, and from Wales and Sweden. They wrote ballads, ran coffeehouses, lived on country estates; they breathed ink dust from printing presses and escaped human traffickers.
What they had in common was the year of their murders: 1888. The person responsible was never identified, but the character created by the press to fill that gap has become far more famous than any of these five women. Now, in this gripping narrative of five lives, Hallie Rubenhold finally sets the record straight and gives these women back their stories.
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Community Reviews
This is a great book! Delving into the history of the five women's lives, it tells their story, of poverty and trying to survive in Victorian times. Discounting the labels of prostitute that the authorities and press placed on them when they were brutally murdered by the monster we call "Jack the Ripper".
Exhaustive description of every detail of life of the 5 women that have been attributed to Jack the Ripper's victims. Highlights the misleading labeling of these women as "prostitutes." Fascinating that these women were so quickly given this label even though there were many indications that this was not exactly the case.
Fascinating and thought provoking delve into the lives of the victims. History has dismissed these five women, who were brutally murdered. This book dives into the lives of the women as well as the situations that led them to be in the path of the killer. It is not an easy journey, but it is relevant to our current lives. I particularly like the reference the author makes to the Brock rape case and how women are viewed, which has not changed all that much since the moralistic Victorian era. This book also excavates how poverty, especially for women, is a soul draining situation. The description of the lives of Victorian woman trapped in poverty is harrowing. The fact that history has labelled these five 'fallen women' because they were poor, as if they had a choice; only one of them was a confirmed prostitute. It was nice to see the victims of violent crimes given a voice instead of the murderer being romanticized.
Very thorough look at the upbringings and circumstances of the five women who eventually became the convenient targets of the predator known as Jack the Ripper. I see this as an important book and a very good reference for anyone looking to know more about the victims’ lives, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a fun read.
I feel like this book may be the first time any of these woman were shown any compassion. Though exact records of events leave lots of gaps and inconsistencies, Rubenhold, rather than making judgmental assumptions, uses what she knows about the hardships of being a impoverished woman in the nineteenth century to speculate about women whose stories have never been told. It unravels the oversimplification of the legend to introduce nuance and feeling. In short, she reminds us that five women lost their lives. Even if no one else valued those lives, they certainly did. Beautifully written and transparent about its research.
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