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189 reviews for:
The Covent Garden Ladies: Pimp General Jack & The Extraordinary Story of Harris' List
Hallie Rubenhold
3.65 AVERAGE
189 reviews for:
The Covent Garden Ladies: Pimp General Jack & The Extraordinary Story of Harris' List
Hallie Rubenhold
3.65 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
I loved Rubenhold's book The Five and The Scandalous Lady W, so I decided to check this one out. I know that this book helped form the basis for the television show Harlots so I had a bit of background to go off of before beginning. One thing that I particularly like about Rubenhold's writing shines in this work and that is the detailed construction of context. To focus only on John Harrison, Samuel Dereck, or Charlotte Hayes would not have provided enough evidence for a whole book. Thus, by expanding the context to include all three Rubenhold has given us this colourfully detailed and well-researched work.
The most interesting part of the book for me was Hayes' story (obviously she's the prominent woman featured). I think that Rubenhold's research into Hayes' life story drives home how women in the late 1800s might come to sex work and then how circumstances resulted in them having to continue in this line of work throughout their lives. The impact that Hayes' sex work had on her relationship with her daughter was truly heartwrenching.
The description of Harris' List in the middle of the text was also incredibly informative. How these women, many of whom entered sex work due to economic, societal, or trafficking were further robbed of their autonomy by the description of men for the further consumption of men was devastating to consider. Although Rubenhold makes it clear that in some cases these women could exert agency and choose the customers they saw it is also clear that should any economic hardship befall these women those choices quickly vanished.
This is a difficult read emotionally because Rubenhold paints such a clear picture of the level of choice and agency women had as sex workers during this period. It is a fantastic examination of the history of sex work and the misogyny that has always surrounded it.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves learning about new topics or is interested in the history of sex work. Rubenhold takes the reader into the heart of the period and they leave with a much deeper understanding of the subject.
The most interesting part of the book for me was Hayes' story (obviously she's the prominent woman featured). I think that Rubenhold's research into Hayes' life story drives home how women in the late 1800s might come to sex work and then how circumstances resulted in them having to continue in this line of work throughout their lives. The impact that Hayes' sex work had on her relationship with her daughter was truly heartwrenching.
The description of Harris' List in the middle of the text was also incredibly informative. How these women, many of whom entered sex work due to economic, societal, or trafficking were further robbed of their autonomy by the description of men for the further consumption of men was devastating to consider. Although Rubenhold makes it clear that in some cases these women could exert agency and choose the customers they saw it is also clear that should any economic hardship befall these women those choices quickly vanished.
This is a difficult read emotionally because Rubenhold paints such a clear picture of the level of choice and agency women had as sex workers during this period. It is a fantastic examination of the history of sex work and the misogyny that has always surrounded it.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves learning about new topics or is interested in the history of sex work. Rubenhold takes the reader into the heart of the period and they leave with a much deeper understanding of the subject.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Terminal illness, Abortion, Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
This book discusses sex work in the 18th century. If you find any of these subjects distressing you may want to skip this book as these themes run throughout the book to varying degrees.
Sexually transmitted infections are also discussed in the text.
Also, Harris' List is a description of the sex workers for male consumption. It is not flattering, both body shaming the women and slut shaming them. In the middle of the book, you will read/hear a description of the women as they were included on the list. You could skip this section and still be able to read the book without confusion.
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Interesting and informative, but I would've liked to read more about the women on the list rather than the men who made the list.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence
I really enjoyed The Five, which leant a lot of needed compassion to the women of the ripper case, as well as bringing to bear some strong historical analysis. This is, I think, an earlier piece of writing, and I found it much much harder to read, perhaps because of its focus on unremittingly horrible men, and the casual exploitation they undertook on a daily basis. This made me both angry and revolted in a way that also made me not want to read more about them. There’s also an odd number given at the start of the book which I think I misread (and I didn’t want to go back for it), but if true, meant they virtually the entire female population of london was involved in the sex trade (fairly sure therefore, they this was my error, not the author’s). But realising that I just didn’t want to find out more pushed me to also realise that the whole historical period was just grim, and still full of men who cheerfully think fame, importance and credit is due to them, despite their vile behaviour. So, not really the author’s fault, but I couldn’t make it past the person who was so unremittingly dirty that he was famed for stinking feet (I know this is an odd final straw, but there you are).
This book was incredibly interesting and incredibly difficult to read. This is a section of the 18th Century that is generally just skipped over and avoided for obvious reasons. Rubenhold presents the 18th Century sex trade's advantages and disadvantages for all those involved, repeatedly peeling back the flowery language and euphemisms of the contemporary era to force the reader to recognise the reality of her subject's everyday lives. This results in a complex depiction of how sex work measured against the rest of society as a way of life as well as the different ways in which those involved in it thought about themselves and each other.
Rubenhold uncomfortably undercuts the natural desire to conceptualise her subjects as those who 'deserved' to succeed due to their intelligence or luck or by being morally deserving by drawing the reader's attention to how their successes are created through their exploitation of those below them and their facilitation of harm to the vulnerable young women around them.
Rubenhold uncomfortably undercuts the natural desire to conceptualise her subjects as those who 'deserved' to succeed due to their intelligence or luck or by being morally deserving by drawing the reader's attention to how their successes are created through their exploitation of those below them and their facilitation of harm to the vulnerable young women around them.
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Note to self: please do not listen to this type of books as audiobook.
Fascinating portrait of the sex trade in 18th century London without the usual biased coming from the era and the time. Hallie Rubenhold is an engaging and precise narrator who masterfully mixes logic historical data to give the reader a sensible and intriguing narrative.
A little hard to follow at times, this book is still a very good example of how to write history for the general public.
Fascinating portrait of the sex trade in 18th century London without the usual biased coming from the era and the time. Hallie Rubenhold is an engaging and precise narrator who masterfully mixes logic historical data to give the reader a sensible and intriguing narrative.
A little hard to follow at times, this book is still a very good example of how to write history for the general public.
informative
sad
medium-paced
Slightly disappointed after reading The Five first. Some interesting parts, but felt this focused too much on the men involved in Harris’s List rather than the lives of the women which seemed like an afterthought crammed into the last chapter.
Hallie Rubenhold is one of my favourite discoveries of last year. While this didn't have the same emotional impact for me as 'The Five' did, I feel like I fell into a wonderful historical landscape that was historically accurate, interestingly written, and full of intimate details. I will continue to pick up her books!
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.