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

"The Five" is filled with human interest stories which reveal a compassionate look at the lives of five unfortunate women living in the 1800s who were all killed in 1888 by one man who took advantage of their desperation. This book introduces you immediately to the living conditions in Whitechapel. in the first story you are invited into a world of action, scents, sights and sounds of the 1800s. This is as carefully crafted as a novel but more real to life with deep insights by an astute author.I felt these highly detailed accounts described every problem these women had which led to their demise. It is no wonder they turned to alcohol because their lives had to have become unbearable emotionally. How much can one woman take? It seemed like these women were given extremely heavy burdens to bear: domestic abuse, illness, the death of their children, family turning against them, husband's dying so they had no support and many other problems women face.The stories leave a profound sense of concern for certain life choices which can lead to an untimely death. Surely anyone who has a secure place to live will think twice about leaving to go live on the streets! Often the decisions these women made led them into desperate circumstances just trying to survive and find a place to sleep at night.I will say this is one of the most interesting and informative books I've read on the time period of the 1800s. You will learn about workhouses and survival on the streets and what happened to women when faced with impossible situations. While reading I was completely captivated by the stories!After reading each section of the book on these very vulnerable women I sat in momentary silence just considering what had happened. I felt like this book brought these women's humanity back and explained why they ended up being murdered.~The Rebecca Review

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.

great book about the lives of the women murdered by Jack the Ripper. Not at all as history had projected these unfortunate women. It's a must read if you want to know who these women really were. It doesn't get into the murders, just who these people were. I hope the author writes more books like this about other people that history had cast a negative light on without researching that facts first.

Questo libro ribalta decisamente la prospettiva con la quale abbiamo sempre interpretato le vicende di Jack lo Squartatore ripercorrendo le vere vite delle sue vittime. La scrittura è scorrevole, il punto di vista nuovo. Lo consiglio.

The Five was our ‘book club that’s not a book club’ pick for May. It had been on my TBR since it was released, so I couldn’t wait to read it, and it definitely lived up to my expectations. I also really enjoyed our group discussions along the way.This book truly gives a unique insight in to the lives of the five victims of Jack the Ripper, and it’s nice to see the victims finally given the dignity they deserve. I feel that with murder/serial killer cases (and all crimes in general actually), we are so quick to discuss the killer and their lives, and to dig in to the why they did it that we overlook the most important people; the victims. That is what makes this book so refreshing from your usual true crime, the murders aren’t described, and the author only really mentions the Ripper once or twice throughout the book. That was one of my favourite things about this book, because for once Jack the Ripper wasn’t given the spotlight that he so desperately craved.It was extremely interesting for me personally to read what it was like in East London back in the 1800s, as I lived in Bethnal Green and went to University in Whitechapel for a few years, so I can visualise a lot of the places mentioned, but the area is VERY different today. The East End is actually one of the trendiest areas of London nowadays, with Brick Lane, and Spitalfields Market drawing people in from all over, so reading how it was one of the WORST parts back then was absolutely fascinating.These women’s stories highlight the huge difference between social roles then and now. Yes, we still have a long way to go, even today, but the way life was back then is absolutely shocking. It was so easy for a woman to find herself in a situation where she was forced to live in awful conditions or even on the streets, for multiple different reasons, that wouldn’t even effect our lives today. The Five was a massive eye opener on that front for me.Each woman’s story was incredibly sad, and their lives were unbelievably difficult, despite the fact that they all grew up in completely different circumstances. Honestly, I don’t think I would have been able to cope with even half of what these women went through. The saddest part about each of their stories is that all of them seemed to be only one small decision away from avoiding their fate completely, and most of those decisions were actually forced upon them. Also, the revelation that there is a high chance that none of them were even prostitutes, despite what we have all been led to believe all of these years, was a huge shock to me, and another massively emotional aspect to their stories.Hallie Rubenhold has written this book incredibly well. A lot of true crime can read a bit like a case file, but this didn’t feel like that at all. The writing style was gripping and enticing, as well as informative, and I really enjoyed that about it. The author has also been very delicate and respectful with her writing, but in a way that the horrible and upsetting details still manage to pack a punch. Honestly, I think she deserves a round of applause for this book.The Five is a powerful, and heartbreaking read. The author really has given these women their lives back, and I think this book is incredibly important. A true crime book like no other, and one that I would highly recommend to everyone!I give The Five a 4.5 star rating!

A penas capitulo III y me está encantando. Sin duda buena adquisición.

A great, informative, page-turning read.Can't really recommend this book highly enough. Fascinating from first page to last, especially as social history, this is a window into the lives of the five "canonical" victims of the Whitechapel murderer which brings all of the women out of the fog, grime and muck they're normally left in to live, breathe and tell their stories in the light.Just brilliant.