The Five

The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

By: Hallie Rubenhold

Narrated by: Louise Brealey

Five devastating human stories and a dark and moving portrait of Victorian London - the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper.

Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Mary-Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. They came from Fleet Street, Knightsbridge, Wolverhampton, Sweden, and Wales. They wrote ballads, ran coffee houses, lived on country estates; they breathed ink-dust from printing presses and escaped people-traffickers.

What they had in common was the year of their murders: 1888. The person responsible was never identified, but the character created by the press to fill that gap has become far more famous than any of these five women.

For more than a century, newspapers have been keen to tell us that "the Ripper" preyed on prostitutes. Not only is this untrue, as historian Hallie Rubenhold has discovered, but it has prevented the real stories of these fascinating women from being told. Now, in this devastating narrative of five lives, Rubenhold finally sets the record straight, revealing a world not just of Dickens and Queen Victoria, but of poverty, homelessness, and rampant misogyny. They died because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time - but their greatest misfortune was to be born a woman.

©2019 Hallie Rubenhold (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Excellent

This is the first time I’ve listened to an entire audio book and it was a great experience. First of all the book was great. Rubenhold brought to life the world of working class to poor women in late 1800s England, and specifically to the victims of Jack the Ripper. In this book we meet them as they were and understand the precarious position of women of their time. Also Louise Brealey’s voice and accent was perfect for this book and very easy to listen to.

More Than Just Victims

The stories of the women who fell victim to Jack the Ripper are heart wrenching, emotional and important. This book tells their stories as people who deserve to be recognized as more than just the victims of a sensationalized murderer. Fans of 'true crime' stories, myself included, would benefit from remembering that killers end lives that had meaning before their interventions. A sobering and very important look at the worlds of these too often forgotten women.

A must read

This book is beautifully written and marvelous told. I've grown up on the story of Jack the Ripper and never in all my years of reading about the crimes have I ever come across so much information about the lives of these five women or the working poor in Victorian London. The conclusion is especially brutal to see how far we've come as a society and how far we still have to go in how women are thought of.

Interesting book on forgotten historical figures

Like most readers, I only knew about the five women that Jack the Ripper killed through the lens of the murderer himself. This book not only provides a more detailed picture of each of the victims but also of the society in which they lived. I found everything about this book fascinating and the narrator was perfect.

Worth listening to

What a great background on all those women who unfortunately suffered at the hands of the Ripper. Most of the victims are known as just prostitutes rather than who each of the woman truly was. This book was recommended to me by a Heygo tour guide who does Ripper and tours of each of the 5 victims. I am glad I got to listen.

An incredibly interesting and informative read

It surpassed my high expectations. Great background and insight. I learned a lot about life in Victorian England, particularly for poor woken.

The life of these women

I was in rapture with learning about the life of these five women. From birth to death without gory details. I found the story of these women to be very enlightening. I love that they did not focus on the killer.

Historically interest

I loved this book because I enjoy reading and learning about history as it can relate to stories. Thumbs up.

It’s about time we learned about these women

Thorough, empathetic, impressive story telling. These women were far more than the chalk outlines they had become.

Must read for true crime fans

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read/listened to in terms of humanizing the victims and not glorifying a killer. The amount of research in this book is incredible. It offers a unique perspective on these five victims as well as life in the late 1800s. Anyone who says they are a fan of true crime absolutely should read this book.