The Five

The Five by Hallie Rubenhold is an extraordinary historical narrative that offers a poignant exploration of the untold lives of five women—Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Mary-Jane—whose fates disastrously intersected with the notorious figure known to the world as Jack the Ripper. Unlike traditional accounts focusing solely on the crimes and the elusive murderer, this book shifts the spotlight back onto the victims, giving them a voice often overlooked in the annals of history.

Through meticulous research and evocative prose, Rubenhold brings to life the richly detailed and devastating stories of these women, highlighting the socio-economic conditions and personal tribulations they faced in 1888 Victorian London. Polly Nichols came from Fleet Street, Annie Chapman from Knightsbridge, Elizabeth Stride from Sweden, Catherine Eddowes from Wolverhampton, and Mary-Jane Kelly from Wales. These women were more than just victims; they were individuals with unique life experiences—they wrote ballads, managed coffee houses, lived on country estates, and faced harrowing circumstances that led them to breathe the ink-dust of printing presses or escape from people traffickers.

The author brilliantly unpacks how these women, despite their various walks of life, found themselves in the precarious socio-economic backdrop of Whitechapel, ultimately becoming targets of an unidentified murderer whose infamy has long overshadowed their identities. Rubenhold provides a rich, humanistic portrait and a searing critique of how history has treated these women, demanding the reader to look beyond the sensationalism of the Ripper mythology.

The Five has been widely acclaimed for its powerful narrative and has garnered several prestigious awards, including the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-fiction, Hay Festival Book of the Year 2019, and the Goodreads Choice Awards for History.

Praise for the book is abundant: it was described as "gripping" by the New York Times, and the Mail on Sunday hails it as "an eloquent, stirring challenge to reject the prevailing Ripper myth." The Guardian termed it "devastatingly good" and "powerful and shaming," while the Sunday Times found it "haunting." Lucy Worsley praises it for leaving the reader "in tears, of pity and of rage," and Bridget Collins, author of The Binding, calls it "fascinating, compelling, moving." Jo Baker, author of Longbourn, declares, "What a brilliant and necessary book." Erin Kelly commends it for being "beautifully written and with the grip of a thriller," stating, "it will open your eyes and break your heart." The Spectator lauds it as "an outstanding work of history-from-below ... magnificent," and The New Yorker highlights its "deeply researched" foundation.

This profound and evocative work reclaims the stories of Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Mary-Jane, urging us to remember them not just as the tragic victims of a serial killer, but as real women whose lives mattered. The Five is a remarkable testament to the resilience of these women and a necessary re-examination of their places in history.