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Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold
9 reviews
jacs63's review against another edition
5.0
It gives a face, a name and a voice, to the 5 victims of JtR.
We so often only hear about the perpetrator, and not the victims.
The book discusses the fact that thru the falsehood and misinformation spread by the Metropolitan Police and journalists at the time, it was convenient for us all to think that JtR only killed prostitutes.
Only 2 of the 5 were actually known to be sex workers.
There is no evidence that the other 3 were sex workers at all, but I for one believed the misinformation that was spread.
One thing that all 5 women shared was that they are all alcoholics.
I wonder why??
Maybe because cheap alcohol was the only thing that dulled the pain, if only for a while, of the poverty; the hunger; the homelessness; the early death of family members, including their own spouses or their own babies/ children; the death sentence that they were given if their spouse died and left them, and their children, destitute; their treatment as a woman with no legal rights; the living hell that was the 'Workhouse'; the lack of education for woman; the disease; the filth and vermin; the lack of medicines; the lack of clean water and sanitation; the violence; the lack of hope, respect and dignity etc etc etc.
Basically the treatment of women/girls in the 1800's.
It's full of interesting and informative historical facts about what life, and death, was like, for women in particular, in the Victorian 1800's.
It's sad and horrific and devastating. It's a book that won't leave me for a while, I don't think.
Probably not a book to read if you are depressed or feeling melancholic.
We will never know who JtR was.
But we can know who his victims were.
These women were daughters; sisters; wives; lovers; mothers; friends.
May they never be forgotten.
RIP and love, Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Kate and Mary Jane.
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Child death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Physical abuse, Excrement, Misogyny, Medical content, Alcohol, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Stalking, Terminal illness, Violence, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
nieva098's review against another edition
4.0
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
lizclark81's review against another edition
3.75
Moderate: Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Classism, Medical trauma, and Alcoholism
amelia_douglas's review against another edition
5.0
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
magibeth's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Misogyny, Alcoholism, Murder, Death, and Classism
Moderate: Miscarriage, Child death, Medical trauma, Grief, Domestic abuse, Infertility, and Death of parent
vixenreader's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Body shaming, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Child death, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Trafficking, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Rape
Minor: Racism, Gore, and Xenophobia
There is a lot of talk about the abuse within the workhouses and dissolving of familial dynamics.vasha's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Misogyny, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Infertility, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, and Trafficking
Minor: Grief, Mental illness, and Sexual violence
odrib's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Suicide, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Misogyny
rhiannonxgrace's review against another edition
5.0
What an incredible book. I really enjoy Rubenhold’s writing style and find her to be an easy read, which can’t be said about all historians! This was a rough read, and more than once I had to pause and step away for a little while simply due to the content. But I am so glad I read this. It’s so important to move the focus back on to the womens’ lives and show them as fully fledged people, something that is often discarded when it comes to the Whitechapel murders.
Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Trafficking, and Violence