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

dark informative sad medium-paced

5.0

"at it's very core, the story of Jack the Ripper is a narrative of a killer's deep, abiding hatred of women and our cultural obsession with the mythology only serves to normalize its particular brand of misogyny"

It is a truly sad book but I found it interesting. All you hear about these victims is that they were prostitute or ladies of the night but, clearly, there is so much more to it than that. It makes one wonder if the desire for truth had been more important during this time, would he have been stopped at Polly? Would people have cared more?

This book reads like a documentary and I love the way it truly focused on the just women: their past, what happened in their lives, the hardships of the times, the double standards, the reason why they found themselves on or near the streets surrounding their murders.

I've also never heard "sleeping rough" used so much and I learned a new phrase of "maison close".