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190 reviews for:
The Covent Garden Ladies: Pimp General Jack & The Extraordinary Story of Harris' List
Hallie Rubenhold
3.65 AVERAGE
190 reviews for:
The Covent Garden Ladies: Pimp General Jack & The Extraordinary Story of Harris' List
Hallie Rubenhold
3.65 AVERAGE
Aw man, this was a bit of a tough one I won't lie. Struggled a lot to get into it in the beginning and as I read on, while my engagement increased, some flaws in Rubenhold's writing became increasingly obvious.
Basing the book around Harris's List is a great idea, it's a fascinating and unique source material and I appreciated the inclusion of sections directly from the publications of the time. However, the way it was handled and Rubenhold's somewhat veiled low opinion of the women included in this list leaves a lot to be desired.
It would have been great to have some more focus on the women included in the list who weren't Charlotte Hayes, and a little less focus on Derrick and Harris. Charlotte is by no means perfect as a historical figure and a little more awareness of that would have been good. Having been written in 2005, this book shows its age and despite a new forward by the author, Rubenhold's tone is not diminished.
Overall, interesting topic, poor execution. Rather disappointed after loving The Five so much.
Basing the book around Harris's List is a great idea, it's a fascinating and unique source material and I appreciated the inclusion of sections directly from the publications of the time. However, the way it was handled and Rubenhold's somewhat veiled low opinion of the women included in this list leaves a lot to be desired.
It would have been great to have some more focus on the women included in the list who weren't Charlotte Hayes, and a little less focus on Derrick and Harris. Charlotte is by no means perfect as a historical figure and a little more awareness of that would have been good. Having been written in 2005, this book shows its age and despite a new forward by the author, Rubenhold's tone is not diminished.
Overall, interesting topic, poor execution. Rather disappointed after loving The Five so much.
challenging
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
I thought going in that this will be more complex and entertaining than it was. In a sense, it encompasses a lot of lives under the umbrella of the three main persons described. But if i look at it another way, it felt a bit dragged at times, especially with some examples of what was featured in the Jack Harris's Covent Garden ladies book.
It is super interesting read if you want to look at the topic scolarly. As a book you read for fun, this might not be it.
Kudos for the research that went into it, the narration was not cluncky at all. It might not deserve more than it got simply because I had a bit of a different set of expectations from it.
It is super interesting read if you want to look at the topic scolarly. As a book you read for fun, this might not be it.
Kudos for the research that went into it, the narration was not cluncky at all. It might not deserve more than it got simply because I had a bit of a different set of expectations from it.
informative
medium-paced
A fascinating and compassionate look at an often-ignored part of history. Rubenhold presents a lot of excellent research without sounding dry and boring. Though she's honest about the challenges and realities of being a prostitute in the 18th century, she also shows that the life wasn't without some perks.
If I had any criticism, I'd say there's a few too many excerpts from Harris' List, but it was all so interesting I didn't even mind that a good fifth of the book was just the author quoting other primary sources.
If I had any criticism, I'd say there's a few too many excerpts from Harris' List, but it was all so interesting I didn't even mind that a good fifth of the book was just the author quoting other primary sources.
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
funny
informative
medium-paced
I was hoping for a detailed look at the lives of sex workers, but instead I got the life story of a pimp, a poet and a mistress of a brothel. I was hoping for a narrative style similar to [b:The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper|37570548|The Five The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper|Hallie Rubenhold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602343785l/37570548._SY75_.jpg|59148767], and so didn’t enjoy this book as much I was expecting. An interesting read nonetheless.
The Covent Garden Ladies explores the careers of three people associated with the notorious "Harris's List", a Who's Who of sex workers in Georgian London: the eponymous pimp who inspired it; Samuel Derrick, its likely first author; and the brothel-owner Charlotte Hayes. Hallie Rubenhold generally does a good job of highlighting just how precarious life was for many people at this time, especially for sex workers.
However, the slightly arch/affected tone of voice Rubenhold adopts here—while clearly a deliberate attempt to echo the eighteenth-century texts she's drawing on—didn't really work for me given how utterly bleak are most of the glimpses we get of the lives of the women included on the List. It was too breezy for the subject matter, and made me feel a bit queasy.
However, the slightly arch/affected tone of voice Rubenhold adopts here—while clearly a deliberate attempt to echo the eighteenth-century texts she's drawing on—didn't really work for me given how utterly bleak are most of the glimpses we get of the lives of the women included on the List. It was too breezy for the subject matter, and made me feel a bit queasy.
challenging
informative
medium-paced