Dr Robert Hume working on his proofs for the book

A former head of history at Clarendon House Grammar School in Ramsgate has announced the paperback publication of his book The Hidden Lives of Jack the Ripper’s Victims.

In the book published by Pen & Sword, Dr Robert Hume, from Broadstairs, focuses almost entirely on the tragic lives of the women who were brutally murdered in Whitechapel in autumn 1888, rather than speculating about the identity of their murderer.

He said: “There’s already been enough about that. The idea to focus on the victims comes directly from teaching ‘Jack the Ripper’ to Year 9 pupils for almost 30 years.

“Many pupils wanted to know much more about the women themselves, most of whom were in their mid-forties and had long backstories. But little material was easily available.

“So, they challenged me to find some and write a book about the women and here it is!

“Although originally published in hardback in 2019, Covid meant that an opportunity to give the stories of the women the rightful exposure they deserve was unfortunately missed.”

Through the lives of the women, Hume paints a vivid portrait of Victorian London and the struggles that working women faced. Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly are inextricably linked in history. Their names might not be instantly recognisable, and the identity of their murderer may have eluded detectives and historians throughout the years, but there is no mistaking the infamy of Jack the Ripper.

For nine weeks during the autumn of 1888, the Whitechapel murderer brought terror to London’s East End, slashing women’s throats and disembowelling them. London’s most famous serial killer has been pored over time and again, yet his victims have been sorely neglected, reduced to the simple label: prostitute.

The lives of these women are rags-to-riches-to-rags stories of the most tragic kind. There was a time in each of their lives when these women had a job, money, a home and a family. Hardworking, determined and fiercely independent individuals, it was bad luck, or a wrong turn here or there, that left them wretched and destitute.

Find the paperback book here

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-Hidden-Lives-of-Jack-the-Rippers-Victims-Paperback/p/53247