This meticulously researched book, takes a deep dive into the lives of Polly, Annie, Elisabeth, Kate and Mary Jane, the 5 women killed by Jack the Ripper. This book is infuriating in it's plainly stated societal and social explanations as to the treatment of women in Victorian London-infuriating because not much has changed in one hundred and forty years! Societal "norms" and laws forced these 5 women (and thousands more) into an endless cycle of poverty, degradation and shame. I fell into the same trap of thinking that these 5 women were all prostitutes and Jack the Ripper was hunting prostitutes, only to learn that only one of the 5 was actually a sex worker. The other 4 were wives and mothers, who, due to circumstance found themselves destitute. This is a must read for anyone interested in the Ripper case. It is a gut wrenching look at 5 women who were brutally murdered by society and then by a madman. Rubenhold has given humanity back to Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elisabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly.
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