Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

The Five: The Lives of Jack the Ripper's Women by Hallie Rubenhold

45 reviews

oceanwriter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

Behind Jack the Ripper is the lives of his victims. Given the illusiveness of this particular killer, the women he slayed tend to be swept aside. This book gives them a voice.

Each section of the book discusses each woman: Polly, Annie, Elisabeth, Kate, and Mary Jane. We learn about their lives leading up to their murders rather than the murder themselves. Along with the story of their lives, the author provides a detailed history of life in England at the time. 

I was initially surprised by the fact Jack the Ripper was hardly mentioned, but I think I ultimately enjoyed the book more because of it. It was incredibly insightful and put a lot of things in perspective. I will say that this was about 60% general history and 40% the five women. While interesting, this did cause the narration to drag at times. It’s worth wading through the slow bits. There is a lot to take in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Child death, and Miscarriage

Minor: Trafficking

pedanther's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Classism

Moderate: Murder, Alcoholism, Suicide, Child death, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Grief, and Infidelity

Minor: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Mental illness, Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Rape, and Terminal illness

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

An interesting look into the true lives of Jack the Ripper's conical five victims and thoughts on how they've been forgotten and twisted by the press and others while he's become infamous. The fact that only 2 of them were sex workers was surprising to me because I'd heard the familiar story. But they were sleeping on the street because of poverty. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Child death, and Miscarriage

nieva098's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, Miscarriage, Alcoholism, Child death, and Grief

Minor: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Death of parent, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Classism, Medical trauma, and Sexism

louisemcaw's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Murder, and Miscarriage

amelia_douglas's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Trafficking, Death, Alcoholism, and Addiction

Moderate: Medical content, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual assault and Miscarriage

isabellaeastwood's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

3.5

In an ideal world serial killers names would never be spoken or written down, and they will be forgotten in history. Unfortunately, especially in this day and age, this will never happen. So instead focusing on the victims and what lives they lived is another way, Rubenhold explains, to silent the killer.

The reader is able to imagine their lives and its provides such an insight into 19th Century Whitechapel. The research is great, and the book flows so well. Even when she has to put caveats, the flow of the story remains intact. There will be times when there was limitations in research or assumptions made using secondary sources. Often Rubenhold has to put her historian hat on and question the newspapers and the inquests written during those times. This is not historical fiction, this is an attempt at writing the history using sources, facts and expertise.

The book is split into five main parts, retelling the life's of the five victims. By the third I was tempted to give this 4/5 stars. I was thinking, 'this might be my first five star read that is fiction'. But alas, I got tired of the rhetoric. I know that when writing essays you have to have 'Point, Evidence, Explain', but constantly reminding the reader that not all of these women were prostitutes got a bit tiring, 'show, don't tell'.

However, this book is very important and I cannot wait to read her other books

"It is only by bringing these women back to life that we can silence the Ripper and what he represents. By permitting them to speak, by attempting to understand their experiences and see their humanity, we can restore to them the respect and compassion to which they are entitled. The victims of Jack the Ripper were never 'just prostitutes'; they were daughters, wives, mothers, sisters and lovers. They were women."

⭐⭐⭐ for story 4/5 ⭐ for the history retelling. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Death

magibeth's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Alcoholism, Murder, Death, and Classism

Moderate: Miscarriage, Child death, Medical trauma, Grief, Domestic abuse, Infertility, and Death of parent

bthkly's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

5.0

As a history teacher I sought out this book to help with subject knowledge surrounding the GCSE history course. I came away with a much more valuable reflection on the lives of women in the 19th century and the misconceptions we may hold about the past due to still present social attitudes. Opens your eyes to the reality of the case and refocuses attention on the people who should matter in the story of a killer - the victims. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Death, Murder, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Trafficking, Miscarriage, Child death, and Pregnancy

funsizesteffi1104's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This was the first book I have read that has solely focused on the people and not on the crime/murder. It was very emotional and hard to read at times reading what the characters faced knowing how they would die.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism

Moderate: Trafficking, Child death, Miscarriage, Death, Murder, and Child abuse