The Five, a review

The Five by Hallie Rubenhold is a non-fiction book about the women who were murdered by Jack the Ripper. Instead of focusing on the murderer, however, we focus on the women. Their lives. Their histories. And how they ended up in the slums of London.

Hallie Rubenhold is a historian, so this is very well researched, with endless references at the end of the book (which I love!) and I can’t even imagine just how many hours went into researching this book.

Mary Ann Nichols. Annie Chapman. Elizabeth Stride. Catherine Eddowes. Mary Jane Kelly.

These are the women who came from middle class comfort, from the slums, from Sweden, with families that loved them, or being totally alone in the world.

I loved this book. So so much. We really delve deep into these women’s lives and the lives of their families. We learn exactly how all of them ended up living in their destitute situations and how they were making their living.

These women are often all portrayed as prostitutes and sex workers. Of course there is nothing at all wrong with this, but in Rubenhold’s research she could only find evidence that one of the women worked in this profession. It seems as though the Victorian’s couldn’t imagine a women living in the slums and not being “morally reprehensible” and so they decided that they all must be prostitutes.

Whilst in the modern day we know (or at least I hope you do) that there is nothing wrong with being a sex worker, it’s simply factually incorrect to state that this was these five women’s linking factor. That isn’t why they were murdered. They were women who unfortunately were deemed as easy targets. They weren’t able to find a bed for the night. They were homeless on the streets.

As you can see, I’m pretty passionate about this after having read this book. And I read this months ago! I really do recommend that you pick this up. It reads very well so should be perfectly accessible to those who aren’t keen on non-fiction books usually and is utterly fascinating to just learn about the day to day life of various women in this time period.

CAWPILE isn’t the best measure for non-fiction books (or at least it wasn’t in 2021, G has updated it for 2022) so I just wrote in the scores to give this book a 5 star rating! But I did make a note to give “enjoyment” a 10/10 score.

This is a fantastic read and in my opinion totally worth the hype that it suddenly got all over bookstagram. I hope you do pick this up and I hope you enjoy it!

First Lines Friday! #24

It’s time for another First Lines Friday! Hosted by Wandering Words!!

What if, instead of judging a book by its cover or its author, we judged the book by its opening lines?

Here is how it works:

– Pick a book and open to the first page.

– Copy the first few lines without revealing which book it is.

– Reveal the book!

So… do these first lines entice you?

There are two versions of the events of 1887. One is very well known; the other is not.

The first version is the one printed in most history books. It is the one that those who lived through the age wished to recall, the version they recounted to their grandchildren with a wistful smile.

Scroll down to reveal the book!

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

Do you know how many places I’ve seen this book??!? I’m so so excited to read it! And those first lines? So this is a non-fiction read. Those first lines lead me to believe that this is going to be written in a really readable manner rather than like a textbook and I’m very excited for that. Have you heard about this book before? Are you interested? Let me know!

Non Fiction Books on my TBR

Non fiction isn’t talked about much on the bookternet, and truthfully I don’t know why! There are some absolutely wonderful non fiction texts across so many subjects, and they range from textbooks to stories! So I thought today I would put the spotlight onto non fiction and mention 5 books that I’m really wanting to read!

Ace by Angela Chen is a book all about asexuality that I really want to pick up! As a demisexual (on the ace spectrum) this is something super interesting to me and I would love to learn more. And it totally doesn’t hurt that the cover is absolutely gorgeous. This one is sitting on my Amazon wishlist, waiting for the day that I’ll treat myself!

The Five by Hallie Rubenhold tells us about the lives of five women killed by Jack the Ripper. Whilst he became infamous these women faded into obscurity. Historian Rubenhold brings their stories back to the forefront where we can focus on Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Mary-Jane and the lives they lived. This on I was able to find on a supermarket shelf for quite cheap and I couldn’t resist! So it’s currently sitting on my tbr and I’m having to use all of my willpower not to read it at once!

Fake Law by The Secret Barrister is one that I regret not picking up when it was published in hardback, and I really need to get a hardback edition! (another one sitting on my Amazon wishlist) This is the second book published by “The Secret Barrister”, a practicing barrister in the UK who remains annonymous in order to provide real life insight into our laws and court systems. Their first book was so interesting and definitely an easy read (so don’t worry if you’re not keen on legalese) so I’m excited for this one.

Chavs by Owen Jones is one I spotted whilst sat in a bookshop one day for a job interview (I didn’t get it 💔) and ever since I’ve wanted to read it! Classism is a big thing here in the UK, and I have feet in both ends given my unusual upbringing (don’t ask, it was a total mess) so this is something that I would love to learn more about and I think it’ll be such an interesting and enlightening read! One day I’ll buy it from my wishlist haha.

Natives by Akala is last but not least. As I mentioned above classism is a big thing here, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have racism as an issue too. This is another book on my Amazon wishlist (there seems to be a bit of a theme here, I need to buy the books on my wishlist!) and it sounds as though this is going to directly face the issues in a very non-British way that I am totally here for and I can’t wait to get stuck in!

And those are the non fiction books I’m most excited to read! I’m kinda mad that I only own one of these!! Please give me some recommendations down below and add more non fictions to my tbr! I’m always interested in learning more, and as you can kinda see from this list (a little) I have very varying interests! So shout out your fave and I’ll see if it’s up my street!!