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

challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

A well-written and thoroughly researched accounting of the history and lives of the five Victorian era women who eventually became the presumed victims of the serial killer dubbed Jack the Ripper. The violence that ended each of their lives is not the focus, and is mentioned only in passing as the end of each woman's life. These accounts are representative of the experiences of many non-wealthy women of the time and area-- the precarities of trying to remain out of poverty and destitution, the limited choices available to women and families without financial resources, the living conditions faced in workhouses or the kind of lodging houses available to lower classes-- but provide specifics details of each woman's life. While this book is important in humanizing and dispelling some myths about these murder victims and their lives, I didn't give a higher rating because some of the language and insinuations are a bit outdated (e.g., some of the things mentioned re: sex work, addiction, or poverty/homelessness). Basically, it would have been super progressive like... 10 or 15 years ago. Still worth a read, though.
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