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A review by elle_reads
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold
4.0
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BOOK REVIEW
[The Five] Telling the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper.
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WHAT I LIKED
Mary Ann ‘Polly’ Nichols. Annie Chapman. Elizabeth Stride. Catherine Eddowes. Mary Jane Kelly. Know the names. Know the victims.
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Hallie Rubenhold is a social historian goddess. I’m stunned by her blatant disregard of the sensationalized Jack the Ripper. She waded - no, she swam - through so much fiction to find slivers of facts about these women. Her research is uncanny. Her book is not like “a movie/book based on true events.” The Five is the facts pure and simple. Her details of live in Victorian England coupled with the records of each women brings their stories back to our collective memory.
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WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
As the obvious minority, I didn’t know much about Jack the Ripper. I knew it was the name of a London killer, but that’s it. I had to research contemporary views to understand what Rubenhold was fighting. I would have appreciated a bit more coverage of Jack the Ripper’s presence in media today and at the time of the killings. Easily fixed with a few Google searches - I would recommend doing this before reading if you are with me in the minority camp.
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The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (by Hallie Rubenhold) ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️✨4.5/5
BOOK REVIEW
[The Five] Telling the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper.
//
WHAT I LIKED
Mary Ann ‘Polly’ Nichols. Annie Chapman. Elizabeth Stride. Catherine Eddowes. Mary Jane Kelly. Know the names. Know the victims.
//
Hallie Rubenhold is a social historian goddess. I’m stunned by her blatant disregard of the sensationalized Jack the Ripper. She waded - no, she swam - through so much fiction to find slivers of facts about these women. Her research is uncanny. Her book is not like “a movie/book based on true events.” The Five is the facts pure and simple. Her details of live in Victorian England coupled with the records of each women brings their stories back to our collective memory.
//
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
As the obvious minority, I didn’t know much about Jack the Ripper. I knew it was the name of a London killer, but that’s it. I had to research contemporary views to understand what Rubenhold was fighting. I would have appreciated a bit more coverage of Jack the Ripper’s presence in media today and at the time of the killings. Easily fixed with a few Google searches - I would recommend doing this before reading if you are with me in the minority camp.
//
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (by Hallie Rubenhold) ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️✨4.5/5