Scan barcode
elizabeth_its_liz_reading's review against another edition
5.0
I highly recommend to anyone interested in a look at the cultural, public health, really the overall sociological, conditions of the time. The author provides a detailed portrayal of each woman’s life and more generally described what women of lower social classes grappled with on a day-to-day basis during this time period and focused especially on the Whitechapel neighborhood in London. Rubenhold does not speculate about Jack the Ripper or describe the crimes in detail. I will say it was still a very upsetting read though, reading about poverty, misogyny, and events leading up to the women’s murders really impacted me. I could NOT stop recounting the horrible policies and events that shaped these women’s lives to my mom, husband, and anyone who would listen.
chaifanatic18's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
sparkin's review against another edition
4.0
This book is Important. It brings back some humanity to the discourse around Jack the Ripper by painting a picture of the women believed to have been murdered by them and treating each one as a whole human being with compassion and empathy. It also works as a piece of social history about the lives of poor Londoners in the late 19th century.
This book definitely knows how Important it is, which sometimes shows through in the prose. In some cases it seems so desperate to reiterate that some of the women were not sex workers that it implies an unhelpful disapproval of the sex trade (using 'sex worker' instead of 'prostitute' more often would have helped here). Still, it's about time somebody treated Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Kate and Mary Jane with dignity and this is well worth your time for that.
This book definitely knows how Important it is, which sometimes shows through in the prose. In some cases it seems so desperate to reiterate that some of the women were not sex workers that it implies an unhelpful disapproval of the sex trade (using 'sex worker' instead of 'prostitute' more often would have helped here). Still, it's about time somebody treated Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Kate and Mary Jane with dignity and this is well worth your time for that.
shaila_m's review against another edition
5.0
Very detailed and a good new refreshing read, it's a good perspective on those victims lives.