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. Their murderer was never identified, but the name created for him by the press has become far more famous than any of these five women. Now, in this devastating narrative of five lives, historian Hallie Rubenhold finally sets the record straight, and gives these women back their stories.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
AWARDS FOR THE FIVE
- Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-fiction 2019
- Hay Festival Book of the Year 2019
- Shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction
- Shortlisted for the Historical Writers' Association Non-Fiction Crown Award
- A New York Times, Sunday Times, Daily Mail, GQ, Washington Post, Oprah Winfrey Magazine and Independent Summer read/History Book of the Year
- Winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards for History 2019
