The Covent Garden Ladies: Pimp General Jack & The Extraordinary Story of Harris' List by Hallie Rubenhold

3.65 AVERAGE

fleeno's review

3.0
 I really enjoyed Hallie Rubenholds 'The Five' and having just discoveree Harlotts on SBS, I was excited to learn she had also written a book based on Harris's list. Between 1757 to 1795 Samuel Carrick, a bankrupt poet, John Harrison, a pimp, and Charlotte Ward, a life long harlott, pooled their local knowledge to create a listing of the lady of Covent Gardens. Rubenhold has done a great deal of research and it was an interesting read. It does make me sad though that the experiences of these women are largely see through the lenses of the men who wrote and frequented their services. How much of history has been lost because women weren't able to write their stories and men didn't think they had anything to add to the world.
hannahkate's profile picture

hannahkate's review against another edition

3.5
informative sad slow-paced

karen07814's review against another edition

4.0
dark inspiring sad medium-paced

beekaycee's review against another edition

4.0
informative reflective slow-paced
leeesey's profile picture

leeesey's review against another edition

2.0
this was undoubtedly interesting but I did it on audio and it definitely didn't keep my attention. nowhere near as good as The Five which is an absolute must-read.
kayo32's profile picture

kayo32's review against another edition

3.5
dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

fleeno's review against another edition

3.0
 I really enjoyed Hallie Rubenholds 'The Five' and having just discoveree Harlotts on SBS, I was excited to learn she had also written a book based on Harris's list. Between 1757 to 1795 Samuel Carrick, a bankrupt poet, John Harrison, a pimp, and Charlotte Ward, a life long harlott, pooled their local knowledge to create a listing of the lady of Covent Gardens. Rubenhold has done a great deal of research and it was an interesting read. It does make me sad though that the experiences of these women are largely see through the lenses of the men who wrote and frequented their services. How much of history has been lost because women weren't able to write their stories and men didn't think they had anything to add to the world.

rosiecockshutt's review against another edition

3.0
informative sad
katreadshistfic's profile picture

katreadshistfic's review against another edition

3.25
informative
A fascinating and well-researched book, although I found the long list taken directly from Harris' List in the middle to be a slog. I think these would have worked better throughout the book, rather than in one solid batch in one chapter.

mylogicisfuzzy's review against another edition

2.0
2.5 stars. I think the stories of the three main characters and Harris's list would have worked better as a chapter within a Georgian Covent Garden or Georgian London history. They simply don't seem to have left us enough evidence of their lives for a whole book. Rubenfold makes a good effort but there is quite a bit of conjecture here. Also, the book suffers from the publisher's decision not to have notes - wish I'd known that before buying on kindle and that I'd known about the thumbnail quality and size of illustrations. Not the author's fault but overall, not quite good enough.