The Five

Let me start by acknowledging how much I have been looking forward to reading this book. I have been studying the Whitechapel murders for years and have had a particular yearning for a full-length biography of the canonical five. This book was heavily touted as a chance to “rehabilitate” the victims from their century-plus old reputation as merely debauched prostitutes. The author promised to not dwell on their deaths or make assumptions of the murderer. So imagine my disappointment when on page 13 of the introduction she not only makes her own assumption of the killer’s m.o., but a stupid, wholly inconceivable one at that. She states that the police “failed to conclude the obvious- the Ripper targeted women while they slept”. She bases this on cororner’s reports that their throats were cut in a reclining position and no screams were heard. Any reader of Ripperology knows that they were first subdued by manual strangulation before being lowered to the ground. There is medical evidence of this in the cororner’s reports yet she chooses to ignore it to push her theory that all 5 victims decided to walk miles from their known doss houses to just drop to the ground for sleep, where they were found and murdered. She neglects to mention the well known facts that the patrolling policemen report strolling up those streets and seeing nothing, nobody. Then minutes later coming across the bodies. Also, there multiple witness statements that attest to seeing most of the victims with a man- while they were awake and upright- just minutes before their bodies were discovered….I believe the author is trying too hard to erase the fact that these unfortunate women were resorting to prostitution. I would have appreciated it if she would have expressed the point that the women should not be vilified for resorting to prostitution as a means of survival, and instead vilify the conditions that led her to that in the first place.

The author claims these five women were not “prostitutes.”

They most certainly were, except maybe Elizabeth Stride. Some of these women were seen walking with a dark man with mustache shortly before their deaths. Why else would they be walking the deserted streets in the wee hours, risking rape or robbery ?

Because they need to prostitute themselves in order to earn money for their doss rent, or lodging.

This is why I’m becoming hesitant to read female historians, because they cannot remain objective when telling the story. It always has a feminist bent to it.

I think many female historians resent the fact that men were the ones who ran history, so they exaggerate the contributions of the women in the story .

This book is revisionist nonsense.

Those women were prostitutes.

Like so many, I’ve never given much thought to Jack the Ripper’s victims. We were told they were prostitutes, and I am ashamed that I didn’t question that or think about their lives beyond that.

This amazing, extremely well researched and completely compelling book has shown me how wrong I was. Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane were so much more than just victims. To start with, only really one of them was what we’d conventionally call a prostitute. Polly at one point had a family and lived in a model public housing project—something I had no idea existed at that time. Annie grew up what we’d call today a military brat and married a respected stable man and lived on an estate, Catherine received a much better than average education at what sounded much like today’s charter schools…all the women had lives far richer and more complex than I’d ever have thought

Through the lives of the five women, I learned so much about Victorian society from a perspective that I’ve rarely had—that not of rich and royal, but of the rest of us. In some ways, it was a much more progressive world than I’d thought, in others, much darker and crueler. The research the author had to do to write this book is simply amazing. But more than that, she skillfully took what she learned and made it intensely readable.

One thing does tie the lives of all five women together—alcoholism. If you ever want to be discouraged from drinking, this is the book to read. Each of the women’s lives was altered by her drinking, and my, was there more drinking in Victorian England that I ever thought there was.

This is not a book about Jack the Ripper. The actual crimes are not described in detail—we can find that elsewhere. This is a book about women’s lives, and it’s a book I am so very glad was written. Highly, highly recommended.

Wow! A wonderfully researched exploration of the women who were killed by Jack the Ripper. Rubenhold refuses to dismiss these five women as mere prostitutes and instead, takes the reader into the back alleys, workhouses, and orphanages to examine the struggles of women during the Victorian period. Indeed, their deaths are barely mentioned and instead the author chooses to look at these women’s lives. One of the best books I have read this year!

Brilliantly researched, up to an above the scholarship expected of a university press book (I’m a professional historian), but the writing is beautiful, incredibly engaging, and ultimately heartbreaking. The book accurately exposes the terrible social inequities of Victorian Britain but through a vivid personal lens.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member