For years, there have been countless documentaries, films and works of fiction all revolving around Jack The Ripper but not one person seemed to ever seek out the truths behind the victims until recently.
Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane were the five very (incorrectly) publicised victims of Jack The Ripper in 1888; all were regarded within the media as women of the sex industry, yet only one for all certainty was.
Not only does Rubenhold seek to inform us about the forgotten victims of an unforgettable killer, but also to educate us regarding the hard times and issues women of working (and somewhat middle) class faced on a daily basis. This book didn’t focus so much on their deaths but on the lives of these incredible women (and I say incredible because they truly were; while they may not have been Florence Nightingale or Mother Teresa like figures of history, their struggles and own history show us that to be born female in such a time was a true, gritty and downright bloody battle and for many a year they somewhat survived).
This is not a book posing as a hunt for the Ripper but is a book purely on the known victims and their lives as well as up until the coroners court verdicts of their deaths. This is so worth a read!
Morelli’s Reads 