A review by lisas_library_factory
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

5.0

I looked forward to reading this book for quite some time and was very happy that I was able to read it in the context of a book club. Hallie Rubenhold does a great job with the intention she pursued with this book. As far as I am informed, the attention is always drawn on the killer - be it in tourist attractions in London or in the media in general. Furthermore, the Victorian period is highly romanticised these days and Hallie Rubenhold managed to draw a more accurate picture of this period that was also characterised by severe sufferings, especially for the working classes. The only thing that bothered me a little, was that Rubenhold as a historian based a lot of her arguments on suggestions rather than source material - which I guess, is rather sparse for this particular topic. Nevertheless, it was great read that I can highly recommend to anyone, who is interested in the topic.

Update February 2022: After re-reading this book, I give it 5/5 stars. The Pushkin-Podcast "Bad Women" hosted by Hallie Rubenhold got me back to the topic and I felt that I wanted to read this book again from a different angle. Even though I still have my issues with the argumentation sometimes based on suggestions rather than on source-proven, I think this is a groundbreaking work and gives us a deep understanding of social life in Victorian London and how social norms, poverty, alcoholism and deseases played a significant role for the faith of the women murdered by Jack the Ripper: Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Kate & Mary Jane