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

As an avid reader of anything connected to Jack the Ripper and his victims, I was drawn to this book by Hallie Rubenhold. “The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper” covers the histories of the five canonical victims whose murders were never solved. The killings in Whitechapel, a poor section of Victorian England, were attributed to a serial killer dubbed ‘Jack the Ripper’ by the news media. For two hot summers, residents of the area lived in terror as the faceless killer chose seemingly random women to slaughter. For generations, the women were identified as prostitutes. Other than their lives in Whitechapel, their histories were never discussed and instead they were memorialized as streetwalkers who may have met their bloody deaths at the hands of a customer. Rubenhold has taken the time to pull back the curtain and show us the paths these women traveled leading to their tragic ends. Beginning with descriptions of Victorian England in the late 1800s, Rubenhold exposes the abject poverty that contrasted dramatically with the wealthy lives of the well-to-do. Whitechapel was unquestionably the last stop for those who had fallen on hard times. Whether driven to destitution by loss of income, ill health, or alcoholism, the inhabitants of the densely packed area lead wretched and often short lives. Saucy Jack’s victims were among these discarded people. Mary Ann (Polly) Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elisabeth (Long Liz) Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly did not choose to live and die the way they did. Circumstances that stretched back into their early lives sent them on their ways to the horror that awaited them. In addition to Rubenhold’s extensive investigation into the early years of the women, she writes of their families; parents, siblings, spouses, and children. She vividly describes the environments where they lived, the pitiful conditions of their lives, and the appalling conditions they found themselves in. Rubenhold’s descriptions of the influence the press had on the public view of the events is an eye-opener. Leading the people of London to believe these five women were doomed to violent deaths by their love of drink and habits of selling their bodies to strange and unsavory men on the streets of Whitechapel cast the victims in a dark light. Police at the time did little or nothing to dissuade the populace of the notion the women almost deserved the horrifying ends they met. This is a wonderful book for Ripperologists or anyone interested in Victorian London. Rubenhold has done an excellent job of revealing the sad humanity of the victims and how they came to be the subjects of books, movies, and investigations even a hundred years after their murders. Her ability to humanize these historical women makes this a must-read. I highly recommend it.

The book's thesis contends that the five victims were not prostitutes. I doubt that this is the case but even though the author is at pains to prove her point I don't think it really matters. Who could blame these homeless ladies living rough in the London winters, where IF you could eat mattered more than WHAT, doing what was necessary. In that situation I would not blame any girl -- hungry and cold – slipping into hooking when it was the only thing that stood between her and possible death. Morality is only for those who can afford it. The more preeminent feature of these five, was neither turning tricks nor boozing; it was what the Americans call flakiness -- their decision-making apparatus was thoroughly defective and it is not surprising that they ended up at the mercy of Jack Ripper. Had they had a grain of sense I doubt that they would have met their maker in such a horrendous way. For example there is Polly Nichols. The readers can read for themselves what she went through on the pitiless streets and in the hellish workhouses and surely if she'd had an iota of rational thinking she would have said to herself that anything was better than that. A normal person would surely be eager to escape such circumstances, which given the poor state of primitive economies and the lack of opportunity, particularly for women, would be difficult and any stroke of luck should have been avidly accepted and any chance taken. Lo and behold, something does finally go Polly's way and she finds herself placed in a job that gave her what you would think was everything she would want: shelter, food, warmth, companionship, her own room, even money. This placement would seem like paradise compared with what had gone before and one would expect her to vow, like Scarlett O'Hara to "never go hungry again". But what does she do? She takes what she owns and a few things she doesn't and repairs to where else -- the pub -- thus cutting all ties and voluntarily returning to where she started, without gratitude, and certainly without a plan. Of course such ill-thought out steps can only go one way -- down, and she soon, and inevitably, urinates what little she has away; her paltry reserves don't last long in an establishment that only takes. Prostitution or no prostitution doesn't hide the fact that Polly and her fellow victims lack any trace of common sense and yes, we've heard that it's the alcohol that does it! Well, we're all exposed to the temptation of alcohol but we don't all get destroyed by it. It needs something else -- flakiness! Even where these ladies get temporarily clean they don't take the appropriate care to stay that way. Their karma just spells doom. Anyone, albeit female, poor, under-privileged, with a bit of common sense would probably not end up alone with Mr. Ripper. This may seem a bit flippant but these girls seem moribund from day one. The problems the author would like to blame don't quite cut it, but she herself is so blinded by her chosen obsession that the book is as much about the writer than it is "the five". Well written, interesting, informative -- but a tad out of focus.

he Five by Hallie Rubenhold tells the story of Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane, five women who are famous for the same thing. They are known as the Canonical Five and were killed by Jack the Ripper at the end of the XIX century. The person responsible was never identified but the character has become far more famous than any of these women. And I say women, not prostitutes, because for more than a century we’ve believed that ‘The Ripper’ killed only prostitutes and – as the author has discovered – this is untrue.These women were mothers, daughters and lovers. They walked the streets of London and died because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. In this book, Hallie Rubenhold sets the record straight and reveals the live stories of these fascinating women. Genuinely devastating, this book opened my eyes to life in Victorian London. It is the life portrayed in Dickens’ novels: a life of poverty, homelessness, illness and misogyny. It was deeply unsetting and honestly addictive. Made me want to know more about life during these years and how the society reacted to the Whitechapel murders. The book is divided into five different parts and each of them narrates the life story of the different victims. The book is not only incredibly well written but thoroughly researched. Rubenhold clearly knows what she is writing about. What I really liked about the book is that the author treats the victims with respect and offers no judgement to their life choices or behaviours which is utterly remarkable. No gruesome details or horror stories are given to the readers, nor pictures of the women either, which made the author’s message clear: these women were victims that were treated without any kind of respect and it’s time to change that. For the last century, their murderer has attracted more attention than them to the point that nowadays there is a Jack the Ripper museum and walks around the sites of the murders. What Rubenhold tries to make us understand is that the victims were not ‘just prostitutes’, they had a life, desires and feelings – and they deserved kindness and appreciation. Maybe it’s time we start giving it to them.

Dieses Buch war längst mal fällig: seit Jahrzehnten werden laufend Bücher über die im Jahr 1888 von Jack The Ripper begangenen Morde publiziert – und neben viel Schrott finden sich unter diesen Büchern auch erstklassig recherchierte und sehr interessant präsentierte Werke. Fast jeder Aspekt der Mordserie wurde schon von Autoren untersucht und recherchiert, egal ob es das Wetter in den Mordnächten, die geographische Position der Morde, obskure Anagrammen was auch immer war… und nahezu jeder im Zusammenhang mit den Morden genannte Name wurde schon einmal Zentrum einer eigenen, mitunter völlig absurden Theorie. Bei all dem fiel aber auf: die Leben der kanonischen Fünf, also die (vermutlich) vom Ripper ermordeten Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes und Mary Jane Kelly wurden von sehr vielen (allerdings glücklicherweise nicht allen) Autoren nur im Zusammenhang der Tatsache untersucht, dass sie eben im Herbst 1888 vermutlich vom Ripper getötet wurden. Ich schreibe bewusst „vermutlich“, weil natürlich kaum ein Aspekt an den Rippermorden unumstritten ist, und auch mit zahlreichen Argumenten diskutiert werden kann, ob Elizabeth Stride und / oder Mary Jane Kelly dem gleichen Täter zum Opfer fielen wie Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman und Catherine Eddowes. All dies ist aber letztlich ein rein akademischer Streit, wer die kanonischen Fünf sind wird jeder wissen, der sich für den Ripper-Fall interessiert, egal wer nun der Mörder war. Bis auf die deutlich jüngere Mary Jane Kelly wurden die Opfer Nichols, Chapman, Stride und Eddowes auch häufig pauschal als im Elendsviertel lebende, gealterte und alkoholisierte Prostituierte abgestempelt. Die Realität ist allerdings bei weitem nicht so simpel – und die „kanonischen Fünf“, über deren bestialischen Tode so viel geschrieben und spekuliert wird, haben es definitiv verdient, dass auch ihr Leben einmal erzählt wird. THE FIVE macht genau das, und mit sehr guter Recherche und noch besserem Schreibstil versteht es die Autorin, die Lebensgeschichten dieser fünf Frauen sehr plastisch und detailliert nachzuerzählen. Hierbei schreibt sie auch sehr viel über das Geschlechts- und Sozialverständnis der viktorianischen Welt… und das die meisten vor ihrem tragischen Tode auch Kinder hatten, verliebt waren und ehrbaren Berufen nachgingen. Sprich, Mary Ann, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine und Mary Jane werden für den Leser sehr nachvollziehbare Personen, deren Leben eben nicht nur in der Nacht ihres Todes für die Nachwelt interessant war und die in einer Welt lebten, deren sozialen Konventionen immer befremdlicher wirken. THE FIVE ist dabei kein Buch über den Ripper – aber natürlich ist dieses Buch auch für alle am Fall Interessierte lesenswert und auch in der Lage, manche gängige Theorie in ganz neuem Licht erscheinen zu lassen. Nicht nur, dass die durchaus gängige These, der Ripper habe (vielleicht auch aus Hass auf Prostituierte) gezielt Prostituierte als Opfer auserwählt und ermordet, hier ziemlich in Zweifel gezogen wird. Hierdurch bekäme in der Konsequenz auch die häufig vertretene Theorie, dass sich der Ripper seinen Opfern als Freier näherte, einige Schwachstellen. Die Autorin vermutet sogar mehrfach, dass die Opfer (zumindest in einigen der fünf kanonischen Fällen) vom Ripper im Schlaf überrascht und überwältigt wurden - was auch die Persönlichkeit des Rippers in einem anderen Licht erscheinen lassen könnte. Aber wie gesagt: dies ist im Kern kein Buch über den Ripper…. und das soll es auch gar nicht sein. Um die Zusammenhänge dieses Falles zu verstehen ist es aber immens bedeutsam, und schlichtweg ist es auch mal notwendig, die kanonischen Fünf nicht nur als Mordopfer, sondern auch als bis dahin lebende und durchaus komplexe Persönlichkeiten zu verstehen, deren Leben sehr hart waren und die alle eine Geschichte hinter sich hatte, die es wert ist, erzählt zu werden. Von mir gibt es 5 Sterne für dieses ausgezeichnet recherchierte und sehr packend geschriebene Buch.

Well packaged and in perfect condition. Good book.

buen producto

I really liked this book. It seemed to be well researched and has loads of sources noted so that you can delve deeper if you like. I've read so many Jack the Ripper books over the years, and the one thing that was always lacking was that they rarely gave any thought to the actual victims. They were people, and because of the fact that they were destitute women, everyone assumes they aren't important. This book does a great job of showing what these women were like both before and after they fell on hard times. It's very eye opening. It also shows how little times have changed in regards to how we view and treat those who have fallen on hard times. The only thing that I would say I found questionable, was the author's belief that the victims were sleeping when attacked. While, it's plausible in some cases, it just doesn't strike me as a definitive possibility when you know the stories of where the women were found and how long it'd been since they were last seen alive. It doesn't add up. But, I won't let that detract from the good this book does. These women deserve to be seen as people, not just victims.