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The Five
- The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
- Narrated by: Louise Brealey
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
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The Five
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Publisher's Summary
Five devastating human stories and a dark and moving portrait of Victorian London - the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper.
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. The person responsible was never identified, but the character created by the press to fill that gap has become far more famous than any of these five women.
For more than a century, newspapers have been keen to tell us that "the Ripper" preyed on prostitutes. Not only is this untrue, as historian Hallie Rubenhold has discovered, but it has prevented the real stories of these fascinating women from being told. Now, in this devastating narrative of five lives, Rubenhold finally sets the record straight, revealing a world not just of Dickens and Queen Victoria, but of poverty, homelessness, and rampant misogyny. They died because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time - but their greatest misfortune was to be born a woman.
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What listeners say about The Five
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2019-12-13
love it love it
I have been waiting forever it seems for a biography about the victims of Jacky boy. So interesting, moving and beautiful the way these woman lived. Their lives mattered no matter where they came from or how they lived. R.I.P. FIVE P. A. E. C.M
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J Moody
- 2022-01-03
Such an Education!!!!
The biggest crime these people had was being a woman…..horrible outcomes from being abandoned!! With children no less. Not well protected by anyone, no where to go, no one to help….God Bless them…..
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Stephanie Lynn
- 2021-03-13
Bingeworthy
A fascinating and informative look at Victorian society with a hint of true crime. Incredibly well-written and researched, with beautiful narration. Very easy to listen to. I consider myself to be fairly well educated on the Ripper case, and this book provides such an insightful look at the women who are just names and victims in most literature on the subject. It also gives a brutally accurate depiction of the lives of the working class and the impoverished from the mid-late 19th century. I could not stop listening to this one - I was hooked from the first chapter.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sarah
- 2022-02-14
5 women who finally get to show us who they were
The author painted a very detailed picture of, not only the lives of the five women who were killed by Jack the Ripper, but also the era in which they lived, loved, survived and ultimately died. The research required to tease out the details for tracing the footsteps of these women was remarkable. Thank you Hallie for bringing these women to life and giving them a voice.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Megan Edmunds
- 2019-10-28
Fabulous look at real Victorian life
Wonderful writing and a great look at what Victorian life was really like for many. Hallie’s writing makes you genuinely feel sad for these women, the struggles and social pressures they endured. Wonderful book, and I can’t wait to read her next one!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- C.M.
- 2021-10-24
Excellent view on the Truth of the 'Five'
These women were all 'vulnerable human beings', either homeless or poverty stricken, not prostitutes, that his how the police, and the media portrayed them in Victorian times. The Author does provide an accurate lens on the truth of their actual lives, and she shows how the police and the media influenced the lack of concern anyone - society in general at - should have for these women at that time. It also reflected that the police did not need to have to search for any suspects, nor was there was a need to hold anyone accountable for the murders of these women. Thus 'Jack the Ripper' became famous. If this was that book I would not have wasted my time. I am glad I bought this book and I will look for more audible books by this Author.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- RS
- 2022-04-07
Blown away by the amazing details
This author is amazing. She took the mundane and made it interesting. She also was very dedicated to making this book about the women and very little discussed about the Ripper. This book is likely to be the best book I read for the year 2022!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Karen
- 2023-05-16
Stories that needed to be told
This book was excellent. You don't have to be a true crime aficionado to be fascinated with the story of Jack the Ripper, and to have watched tv shows and read books about his crimes, over the years. The problem with all those shows and books, to date, has been that they have focused on the criminal. Most of them are speculations about his identity, and retellings of the crimes and investigations from the perspective of the authorities at the time.
The author, Hallie Rubenhold, is a historian who has taken a different angle. She has investigated the backgrounds of the five women whose murders were attributed to the Ripper. It has been a broad assumption that these five women were prostitutes, and were hired or lured by the Ripper as such, before being murdered. In a way, this has always placed some blame on these women. Rubenhold's research show us that three of the women were wives and mothers who had been afflicted with addictions and were "sleeping rough" on the streets, due to lack of a home or financial ability. Only two of the women were prostitutes. This also does not mean they held any responsibility for their own murders.
Rubenhold's research into the times illuminates the rampant misogyny of the day. Women only held worth if they were wives and mothers. There was no honorable work available to them that would allow them to make a living on their own. Their fate was in the hands of men; their fathers or husbands. Women could not sleep with anyone who was not their husband, yet their husbands could carry on with other women without judgement. If a husband committed adultery, his wife could not obtain a legal separation unless it could be *proven* that the husband *also* committed incest or severe sexual or physical abuse in the home. However, a man could legally separate from his wife by simply stating that he was pretty sure she had been committing adultery. What a world that must have been. I thank my lucky stars I live in the 21st century.
The five women murdered in such a hideous manner by the Ripper (the author does not delve into the actual murders and investigations as there are plenty of resources on this topic already) were all human beings with families and friends who loved them. Some of them had husbands and children. They had fallen onto hard times in a society that already considered them to be lesser beings. They had no chance on the streets and even less of a chance in the media at the time. A shame.
The narrator was very good.
Recommended for people interested in Jack the Ripper and/or Victorian England.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Linda
- 2023-05-14
Informative
I’m very pleased with this book. It gives the reader a more complete understanding of the period when the murders took place Also, it gives the victims centre stage and drives home the fact that they were people. I learned a lot about what their lives were like.
This is a must read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- The Amber Journal
- 2023-11-18
Absolutely brilliant read!
This was an absolutely brilliant read! I strongly recommend this to anyone interested in Jack the Ripper, as this focuses on the victims and their real backgrounds rather than the sensationalism of the killings. What a great read!
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