laurenjpegler's review against another edition
5.0
One of the most engaging and addictive nonfiction reads I’ve picked up.
Rubenhold, unlike many other researchers on Jack the Ripper, has taken a step back from the actual murders and created a narrative for the five women who were brutality murdered in the streets (and one in her bed) of London. She does not wish to romanticise the murders. Instead, she humanises these women by giving us a historical timeline of their lives, starting at their birth through to their childhood, ending on how they ended up in London.
She smashes the idea that Jack the Ripper was a killer of prostitutes. It is not actually known what the profession of AT LEAST three of these women were, and there is no concrete evidence to suggest they were actually prostitutes, it was just easy to label them that.
Rubenhold challenges the Victorian prejudices against women who weren’t the ideal woman, whilst trying to understand why we, as a modern world, still romanticise Jack the Ripper instead of acknowledging him as as murderous misogynist. We have created a legend for him, leaving his five victims to be forgotten about, at most being remembered as “prostitutes”.
So good.
Rubenhold, unlike many other researchers on Jack the Ripper, has taken a step back from the actual murders and created a narrative for the five women who were brutality murdered in the streets (and one in her bed) of London. She does not wish to romanticise the murders. Instead, she humanises these women by giving us a historical timeline of their lives, starting at their birth through to their childhood, ending on how they ended up in London.
She smashes the idea that Jack the Ripper was a killer of prostitutes. It is not actually known what the profession of AT LEAST three of these women were, and there is no concrete evidence to suggest they were actually prostitutes, it was just easy to label them that.
Rubenhold challenges the Victorian prejudices against women who weren’t the ideal woman, whilst trying to understand why we, as a modern world, still romanticise Jack the Ripper instead of acknowledging him as as murderous misogynist. We have created a legend for him, leaving his five victims to be forgotten about, at most being remembered as “prostitutes”.
So good.
kcoccia's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed it. I thought it was going to be more historical fiction like but it read more like a biography of 5 women. I do wonder how they know specific things about the women... or is it just speculation?
Things that ran through my mind:
1. The amount of children people had back then just blows my mind. 1 pregnancy after the other and then you die... good lord.
2. Every woman ended up in the predicament she was in because she "liked to drink" or was a full blown alcoholic.... how do you know this?
3. So many assumptions about everything. It was very entertaining and it's clearly a very popular book but why write a book about these women's lives if you're just making assumptions about the majority of their lives.
4. The lives of women have really come a long way.
Things that ran through my mind:
1. The amount of children people had back then just blows my mind. 1 pregnancy after the other and then you die... good lord.
2. Every woman ended up in the predicament she was in because she "liked to drink" or was a full blown alcoholic.... how do you know this?
3. So many assumptions about everything. It was very entertaining and it's clearly a very popular book but why write a book about these women's lives if you're just making assumptions about the majority of their lives.
4. The lives of women have really come a long way.
ktxx22's review against another edition
5.0
What a refreshing and interesting book! I absolutely loved the research in to each of these women, The victims of Jack the Ripper. I liked that Rubenhold went in chronological order from birth to murder of each woman in the order they were killed. I loved that she included only things she was able to corroborate with other texts and not hearsay, unless she was showing the contradiction in the commonly acknowledged details of the case. The absolute best part of this book is that she did NOT include details on the women’s deaths or give the ripper more than a cursory mention. Rubenhold was able to link these women by status, Vice, and history and that is why this book is a must read. It’s so important to to view the victims as more than just a cautionary tale… these were actual humans and the fact that most do not even know their name and want to participate in ripperology is beyond foul. Highly recommend this book!
roses_are_rosa's review against another edition
4.25
This was a very interesting read. While knowing a lot about the murders and Jack the Ripper, I never really knew anything about his victims. To learn about their lives and generally about the lives of working class people, especially women, in Victorian England, was fascinating.
Also the conclusion and the discussion about how problematic it is that the murderer has basically become a celebrity and the misogyny linked to that was so well done.
Also the conclusion and the discussion about how problematic it is that the murderer has basically become a celebrity and the misogyny linked to that was so well done.