I am so pleased that Hallie Rubenhold’s book “The Five” has won the £50,000 Baillie Gifford (formerly the Samuel Johnson) prize for non-fiction last week.
Written from a Social History perspective, after writing celebrated books about Harris’s list of Covent Garden Ladies and Lady Worsley’s Whim, the book explored the lives of the five known women killed by Jack the Ripper in 1888.
In a talk I saw her give in June, where she kindly signed my copy of the book, she explained that she had approached the subject in a completely open manner as befits a trained historian, and it was from the direct reading of the primary sources, applying academic process, she came to the discovery that contrasting to received opinion, there was no compelling evidence that three of the five had engaged in prostitution.
This would seem a not particularly problematic conclusion, yet within large parts of the “Ripperology” community it made her into a hate figure.
The vitriol members have dripped on her – even comparing her to Nazi apologist David Irving – has been shocking and disgraceful.
I hope that the wider recognition the book deserves from the award acts as a just riposte to her critics – who I think should be examining their own motives and actions here.
Not only that of course, but it’s a great read!
