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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
This book tells the story of the five victims of Jack the Ripper. The author did a great job of researching the background of each of these women despite little historical documentation. One thing is clear, living as a working class woman during the late 1800s was a horrible time to be alive. 3.5 stars.
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
emotional
informative
medium-paced
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
This was very well written and the history of these women's lives is fascinating. I've been on one of those walking tours in London to show the places where the Jack the Ripper victims were found and while this was over a decade ago I still distinctly remember the tour guide being very dismissive of the women, writing them off as drunk prostitutes who cared more about getting the money for their next pint of gin than anything else. But this book does these women justice, sharing not only their own lives but also going back further in time to who their parents were, how many siblings they had, the type of childhood they had, and the many factors that contributed to the choices they made as young women and throughout their lives. I was amazed at how much information the author was able to gather about these women and their stories kept me hooked. They all suffered so much heartbreak and loss and did the best they could do given their very difficult circumstances.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Murder, Pregnancy
dark
informative
sad
Haunting, visceral, infuriating, enraging, heart breaking and inspiring.
"I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We've been taught that silence would save us, but it won't." -Audre Lorde
"You may view with some distaste the lifestyles of those involved. Whatever drugs they took, whatever work they did, no one is entitled to do these women any harm, let alone kill them."
-Justice Gross
"If the Whitechapel murders served to expose anything, it was the unspeakably horrendous condition in which the poor of that district lived...
It is only by bringing these women back to life that we can silence 'the ripper' and what he represents.
The victims... were NEVER 'just prostitutes.' ...They were women. They were human beings. And surely that, in itself, is enough." -Hallie Rubenhold
These histories were fascinating! It is astounding how rigid gender roles have been so dangerous and unjust for so many people throughout the world's history. The Victorian mindset of submission equating perfection and using shame to force that perverse perfection, and our human nature to sensationalize are unfortunately still so pervasive and damaging today.
I almost feel a sense of solidarity with these women and maybe that's part of the author's intent. To re-humanize and give dignity and individuality back to them by making readers aware and eliciting our empathy and desire to do better.
"I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We've been taught that silence would save us, but it won't." -Audre Lorde
"You may view with some distaste the lifestyles of those involved. Whatever drugs they took, whatever work they did, no one is entitled to do these women any harm, let alone kill them."
-Justice Gross
"If the Whitechapel murders served to expose anything, it was the unspeakably horrendous condition in which the poor of that district lived...
It is only by bringing these women back to life that we can silence 'the ripper' and what he represents.
The victims... were NEVER 'just prostitutes.' ...They were women. They were human beings. And surely that, in itself, is enough." -Hallie Rubenhold
These histories were fascinating! It is astounding how rigid gender roles have been so dangerous and unjust for so many people throughout the world's history. The Victorian mindset of submission equating perfection and using shame to force that perverse perfection, and our human nature to sensationalize are unfortunately still so pervasive and damaging today.
I almost feel a sense of solidarity with these women and maybe that's part of the author's intent. To re-humanize and give dignity and individuality back to them by making readers aware and eliciting our empathy and desire to do better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced