South Shore Readers discussion

Our March book is the non-fiction work The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

We will be meeting on March 28th via zoom or in person (outdoors) depending on the weather and the COVID situation. Stay tuned as we get closer to March 28th to see where we will meet. But, you can post your thoughts, progress etc. about the book here in this discussion topic.


NOTE: this book is available in digital and audio editions on Hoopla, which you can access using a library card.

Here are some discussion questions: https://www.bossylibrarian.com/upload...

Copied and pasted below for ease of access:
1. Which of the five victims’ stories did you find the most intriguing, surprising, or resonating? Why?

2. Did anything surprise you about the representation of Victorian England in The Five? If so, what?

3. What other books, fiction or nonfiction, have you read about this period in history? How does The Five compare?

4. Have you previously read any other books about the crimes of Jack the Ripper? How did this book vary?

5. The Five is pointedly not about Jack the Ripper, nor is it really about his crimes. Why do you think the author made this choice? Do you agree with her decision?

6. Do you feel a basic knowledge of the Ripper crimes is necessary to get the most out of this book? Why or why not? Did this book change your perspective on the crimes of Jack the Ripper? If so,
how?

7. What do you think about the author's research for this book? Did you feel the sources the author used were credible and well-balanced?

8. How do you think female victims of violent crime are represented in the media today? Do you think this has changed significantly since the late 19th century? If so, how and why?

9. Why has the mainstream Ripper “narrative” assumed that all five victims were prostitutes and why is this relevant?

10. Hallie Rubenhold has received criticism from “Ripperologists” since this book was published, principally because of her suggestion that three of the five victims were not at the time of their
deaths, and never were, prostitutes. Why do you think the book has prompted this reaction from some quarters? Do you think it is justified?

Just finished Polly’s story. Jesus, life was horrible for women.

Yes it truly was.

I am starting this soon... I have the audiobook checked out on LIBBY.

We will be meeting via zoom today.


Some additional resources:

All sorts of Jack the Ripper info: https://www.jack-the-ripper.org/
Article about the victims:
https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/art...

A Guardian article where the author of The Five talks about the book and the victims: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

I am so sorry I flaked on the meeting date about this book. I ordered it via Bookshop, but was impatient and started it on Audible. Glad I had a print copy to refer to some of the place names and go back to different details in the stories. I thought the opening, juxtaposing the Queen's jubilee with the dire situation of so many of her subjects, was a perfect intro into what the author was striving to demonstrate. I'm haunted by some of these women's stories, especially Elizabeth Stride...I feel like everything was against her from the very start. Even in today's America, it is still so extremely easy for people to have just a few things go wrong in their lives and end up homeless or worse...especially women. I think the conclusion (and, wow, listening to what is basically a righteous, outraged rant about bias against women and our insane culture of worshipping a violent killer was possibly more powerful than reading it) was a kind of slap upside the head to current society. Yeah - why the hell ARE tourists paying all kinds of money to walk in the footsteps of a woman-hating murderer? A look into social history that made me turn the mirror on myself/today/American culture. Powerful and unforgettable.