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

by Hallie Rubenhold

THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NONFICTION 2019
'An angry and important work of historical detection, calling time on the misogyny that has fed the Ripper myth. Powerful and shaming' GUARDIAN

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.

Their murderer was never identified, but the name created for him by the press has become far more famous than any of these five women.

Now, in this devastating narrative of five lives, historian Hallie Rubenhold finally sets the record straight, and gives these women back their stories.

WINNER OF THE GOODREADS HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019

PRAISE FOR THE FIVE

'Gripping' New York Times

'Speaks with an urgency and passion to our own times' STIG ABELL, Chair of Baillie Gifford Prize

'At last, the Ripper's victims get a voice... An eloquent, stirring challenge to reject the prevailing Ripper myth.' MAIL ON SUNDAY

'Devastatingly good. The Five will leave you in tears, of pity and of rage.' LUCY WORSLEY

'Dignity is finally returned to these unfortunate women.' PROFESSOR DAME SUE BLACK

'Haunting' SUNDAY TIMES

'What a brilliant and necessary book' JO BAKER, author of Longbourn

'Beautifully written and with the grip of a thriller, it will open your eyes and break your heart.' ERIN KELLY

'An outstanding work of history-from-below ... magnificent' THE SPECTATOR

'Deeply researched' THE NEW YORKER

AWARDS FOR THE FIVE
- Shortlisted for the WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2020
- Winner of the BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE for Non-fiction 2019
- HAY FESTIVAL Book of the Year 2019
- Shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction
- Shortlisted for the Historical Writers' Association Non-Fiction Crown Award
- A New York Times, Sunday Times, Daily Mail, GQ, Washington Post, Oprah Winfrey Magazine and Independent Summer read/History Book of the Year
- Winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards for History 2019

• ISBN10: 1328663817
• ISBN13: 9781328663818
• Publish Date: 9 April 2019 (first published 28 February 2019)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 21 April 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[bumblingbookworm]

DNFed at 35%. I’ve tried to read this three times in the last year and it’s just not working for me. The first two times it literally put me to sleep and this time I’ve gotten 35% in and I’m not retaining any of what I’ve listened to. I appreciate the focus of the book being on the victims rather than their murderer, but I couldn’t tell you one thing about this book other than what’s in the blurb. Clearly the audiobook is definitely not for me, I might try it again in the future with an ebook or a hardcopy from my library.

[HekArtemis]

I was concerned going in that this book would be so focused on showing that four of the five were not prostitutes that it would essentially be saying that their murders were even more tragic than originally thought. As though to say that real prostitutes deserved the murder, maybe.

Instead this book isn't about their deaths at all, it's simply about their lives and, because of their manner of death, it is also about how their lives were so tragically ignored by the world then, and even still now. It's not about showing they were better because they weren't prostitutes, it is about showing how messed up Victorian England was in pushing women into these awful lives and then blaming them and treating them like trash when they had to try to survive those lives forced upon them.

This book is about the lives of five women who were murdered and whose murderer is practically worshipped by the world. Oh we all agree that the Ripper was evil, but how happy are we that he existed so that we could have his story to tell. And the stories of the victims? ignored for the most part, lied about when given any attention.

This is an amazing book that really takes a good and deep look at Victorian England and the lives of not just five women, but many other people of that time as well. I think this is not just a necessary book for the whole Ripper genre, but it's also a fantastic book for learning about Victorian England and especially womens lives in that time.