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    The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
    The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
    The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

    Written by Hallie Rubenhold

    Narrated by Louise Brealey

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateOct 8, 2019
    ISBN9781684573981
    Author

    Hallie Rubenhold

    HALLIE RUBENHOLD is a social historian whose expertise lies in rediscovering the stories of previously unknown women and episodes in history. The Five is the first full-length biography of the victims of Jack the Ripper to be published since 1888. By drawing upon a wealth of previously unseen archival material and adding a much-needed historical context to the victims’ lives, The Five promises to change the narrative of these murders forever.  

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    Reviews for The Five

    4.5/5

    158 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I do not listen to much non-fiction because books are my escape from an emotionally taxing work life, but I am so glad I came across this book!

      So well written, it was easy to stay engaged and looking forward to getting back to the book at every opportunity.

      This book provided so much context of the Victorian era that I was able to make several connections from historical fiction that I have enjoyed over the years. Les Miserables comes to mind.

      The other major connection for me was the parallels between society's treatment of those in poverty then and now. Things haven't changed as much as we'd like to pretend. The author makes a similar point about the treatment of female victims.

      Not a lighthearted read, but meaningful, and interesting. The author did an excellent job of humanizing the five women who've largely been forgotten.
    • 5/5
      Was absolutely great and well done. It gave a whole new light on the events and gives the women a true story.
    • 3/5
      Great idea but the voice was irritating to listen to and it seemed more like an essay than a book. The parts where senses were used were best but most felt like reading an encyclopedia. Having said that I love the idea and I did learn about the time period, so it was worth reading imo.
    • 5/5
      Very detailed and a good new refreshing read, it's a good perspective on those victims lives.
    • 5/5
      What a great book. I learned so much about the women and life in 1880’s London. The author is right, history needs to stop focusing so much on the man who perpetuated the crimes, and more on the victims.