Bestselling author of THE FIVE/historian/TV. Winner 2019 Baillie Gifford Prize. Also wrote Covent Garden Ladies aka
#Harlots
BBC /Hulu, Podcast host
#Badwomen
It’s drop day for season 2 of BAD WOMEN! 💥💥💥 Come with me and criminologist
@Alice_Fiennes
as we enter the blacked out streets of WWII London in 1942, when a killer is on the loose. Eps 1 &2 available wherever you get you podcasts.
Please bear with me as I gloat - I've waited my entire career for this moment.
By entire career I mean all of the bitter disappointments, the feelings of being unheard, ignored, overlooked, second guessed, the near financial ruin, the questioning of my choice to become a writer.
A powerful female politician resigns: she was unfulfilled because she never became a mother.
A mother disappears: she was a hormonal (“hysterical”)alcoholic.
A headteacher is murdered: she emasculated the husband who killed her.
This is 2023. Misogyny is alive and well.
There must always be something wrong with a woman who has been a victim of a crime. Her flaws and imperfections are to blame. She made someone do this to her. This is what you get for being a bad woman. The narrative never changes. It’s centuries old.
Only when we have a notoriously sexually unfaithful female prime minister with 6 kids by 3 different men, whose career is entirely undamaged by a kiss and tell story in the paper, will women have finally achieved social equality in the UK.
#doublestandard
A week has passed since the murder of Anastasia Yeshchenko, a fellow female historian of the 18th & 19th centuries. Not surprisingly, there is virtually no coverage in the English language press about who she was but a lot about her murderer. I'd like redress this imbalance here.
It’s been 135 years since Jack the Ripper murdered 5 women. It’s been 4 years since I wrote a book about those 5 women. Today, someone has suggested that I should be brutally murdered for writing a book about those 5 women filled with “misinformation.” The irony.
132 years ago today was the last day of Mary Ann 'Polly' Nichols life. This woman who was loved by family and friends was brutally murdered by Jack the Ripper. Today he is a celebrity. You can even buy beard oil named after him. No one remembers who she was.
One day, perhaps we'll learn not to blame women who are outside and alone at night for what happens to them.
It's amazing how little society moves on from an old and tired narrative.
#SarahEverard
Let's remember Wilma McCann, Emily Jackson, Irene Richardson, Patricia Atkinson, Jayne MacDonald, Jean Jordan, Yvonne Pearson, Helen Rytka, Vera Millward, Josephine Whitaker, Barbara Leach, Marguerite Walls, Jacqueline Hill.
We don't need to mention Peter Sutcliffe again.
This has gone up on Ebor Street in Whitechapel. It's amazing to see the womens' faces here. It feels right. This is a temporary mural and an advert for the book, but I'd like to start a campaign for a permanent mural commemorating the victims. How do I do this, Twitter?
Poor men. For thousands of years they held no power, they had no voice. The laws were made to favour women. They were considered property to be owned women. Women were always paid more than them, society was structured to keep them home, making children and keeping house.
"Why have a minister for women, but not for men?"
Speaking in the International Men's Day debate, Conservative Ben Bradley says "can we ensure equality means just that, rather than positive discrimination at the expense of certain groups"
Watch:
131 years ago today, a woman who battled with alcoholism and who spent time in one of the first all female rehab centres in the UK, was murdered in a yard off Hanbury Street. Her name was Annie Chapman. She was more than just a victim of a killer called Jack the Ripper.
130 years ago today, a woman who battled with alcoholism, spent time in one of the first all female rehab centres in the UK trying to overcome it before it overcame her, was murdered in a yard off Hanbury Street. Her name was Annie Chapman.
The FORMER Jack the Ripper Museum in the East End is now on sale for £685,000.
I'd love to see this building become a centre to assist homeless women. It would be the ultimate triumph.
Anyone claiming that "Today women use abortion as a means of birth control" really needs to crack open a history book about how women "controlled family size" for the past couple of millennia.
How rich by today's standards were Jane Austen's characters? Millionaires and billionaires. This chart is great and it hammers home an important point: although Austen's stories are popular today, they don't present a true picture of life in the early 19th century.
Also, can we correct this fallacy once and for all - neither the Yorkshire Ripper nor Jack the Ripper were 'killers of prostitutes'. They were killers of women. 'Prostitute' is not a sub-species of woman. A person's occupation is irrelevant to the fact that their life was taken.
The fetishization of the male calf was a thing the 18th century. This is the first time I've seen this image, and what strikes me about it is not just the adoration of the calf, but the woman as sexual aggressor. It's an interesting role reversal.
Appalling. Her killer had 69 previous offences and 28 convictions. He was violent and out on bail. He went out specifically to attack women that night. No one stopped him. He killed Zara Aleena, a trainee lawyer.
Does he really have it? Is this a stunt? Is he trying to avoid the next debate? Does he think this will boost his ratings in the polls? Does he think surviving it will make him look stronger? Am I really asking these questions? Is this what it's come to? Good morning everyone.
There is still a need for a mural commemorating the victims of Jack the Ripper in Spitalfields. It seems someone has taken matters into their own hands by painting over an image described as 'a leering Jack the Ripper' with the words Catherine Eddowes. Hats off to you.
Right. So here we go again, my 3rd encounter with having my IP stolen. This time of my book, The Five. 2 years ago I was approached by
@VICE
productions to co-present and advise on a documentary series about the Ripper victims, which I ended up pulling out of. Here's the story.🧵
I saw this
@channel5_tv
doc on the victims of Jack the Ripper, called 5 Victims, & assumed it must be hosted by / based on / attributed to
@HallieRubenhold
who wrote THE FIVE about the victims of JtR. Only it’s not. But this is Hallie’s work. So why the hell isn’t she credited?
I've been reading servants' memoirs from the early 20th century - a must-read for anyone who believes the Downton idyll. The utter loathing of the upstairs by the downstairs shouldn't be underestimated. The sense of 'us' and 'them' was all pervasive outside of service too.
Look what just arrived - The first hardback copy of The Five (available 28 Feb in the UK / 9 April in the US). Beneath the newspaper style dust jacket are the women's names - the true stories behind the headlines.
#thefivewomen
@TransworldBooks
@sarahbatua
@sophiechristoph
Actually,
@RadioTimes
I'd like to think my qualifications and expertise on the subject merited my participation in the programme below, not my number of followers on social media. Same applies for Dr
@k8_lister
.
Dear Microsoft Word, I am writing a book, I already have an editor. I do not need your little blue marks under my words encouraging me to “use more concise language”. Stay in your lane.
132 years ago today, a woman who called herself Mary Jane (or Marie Jeanette/Janette) Kelly was killed by someone called Jack the Ripper. We may never know her true name or whether she was Welsh or Irish, but her enormous East End funeral is a testimony to how much she was loved.
@nokingbutCaesar
Anastasia Yeshchenko is any one of us. She is your childhood friend, your sister, the woman you work with. She's the one with the swinging ponytail in your step aerobics class. She's the one who brings her coffee to the library. She is not a dismembered body. #ЯМыАнастасияЕщенко
At the expense of sounding sentimental, this photo of her with that gentle smile and her frail posture - she is everyone's aging grandmother, parent or dearly loved relative or friend.
Well, the gloves are off. When the legal system is so under funded that the cost of getting to court is more than you’d get paid for a day’s work, it’s time to strike.
Barristers to vote on all-out strike in England and Wales | News | The Times
131 years ago today, a woman named "Polly" Nichols was found dead on Buck's Row in Whitechapel. She was the wife of a printer & one of the first residents of the Peabody Buildings in Lambeth. She was a mother, daughter, sister, & friend, not just a victim of Jack the Ripper.
The Five has been on the shelves for 14 months and people are still flipping their shit about how I ignored all the 'facts' and ruined Ripperology with my 'feminist agenda'. I say, job done.
Reminder - it’s possible to admire the former Queen as a significant figure, to have an interest in her life and respect her as a fellow human, without necessarily liking the concept of monarchy, or even the royal family.
This is just the most inspiring thread: little girl wants to drive a fire truck but hasn't seen a 'lady' drive one, so 'lady fire fighters' from around the world tweet back pictures of themselves being kick ass. (See, the world can be a good place).
Hey twitter.
Request from Molly age 4.
When she grows up she wants to drive a fire truck but she said she has never seen a lady drive a fire truck before.
Can you help me out with all you fabulous female firefighters?
#firewomen
#firefighter
#femalefirefighter
Polly Nichols, you are remembered.
A tablet has been placed in St Bride's Church on Fleet St, her parish church and the place where she was married.
Beautiful!
I am a census nerd. Without the census, I couldn’t have written The Five, so on this historic census day, 2021, Annie Chapman and I are going to show you why you should contribute to this time-capsule of a record.
Imagine being a woman and spending the whole day in London's West End, but also knowing there were virtually no public toilets and nowhere other than a few odd pastry shops where you could go for a meal without being called a prostitute. Welcome to life in the 1880s.
I'm so excited to announce my new podcast, Bad Women: the Ripper Retold - available wherever you get your podcasts on 5 Oct.
Bad Women explores the lives of Jack the Ripper's victims and takes their story (and ours) into the present.
#badwomen
Trailer:
"I think many female historians resent the fact that men were the ones who ran history, so they exaggerate the contributions of the women in the story".
These were five murder victims.
The Five has made it to number 1 on the Sunday Times Bestseller List! Thank you to all the wonderful booksellers and especially
@Waterstones
who have shown the book so much love!
So, just heard today that GCSE history books which feature sections on Jack the Ripper and the lives of the victims are going to be updated to take into account new research!
'What was she wearing?' 'Where was she going at that time?' 'Why was she out?' 'She should have known better than to walk through a park at night'. 'Men can't control themselves'.
Anyone see a problem with these questions?
#SarahEverard
I never cease to be amazed by the American obsession with the "Founding Fathers". Same stories, told over and over. Much like the UK's obsession with WWII, it really is time to get people interested in other aspects of our rich historical human experience.
Wouldn't it be great if someone comissioned a documentary series where the legend of Jack the Ripper was debunked through a close examination of science, the law and historical documents (not newspaper reports & hearsay) and where the victims' stories were placed front & centre?
After all that hand clapping, the Tories have still voted against protecting the NHS from outside interference.
This is what taking back control looks like.
Deeply saddened to hear about the loss of the Duke of Edinburgh, but I really feel for the Queen, who has shared her life with a man she loved for over 70 years.
Let's reframe this story slightly: historian who was clearly insane, but whose prominent position meant people were willing to humour him, brutally murders his much younger former student partner.
Rather than commemorating the murder of this woman by Jack the Ripper 130 years ago today, making a small (or large) donation to help people who find themselves in similar positions would be a positive way of remembering Annie Chapman and those like her in 2018.
Sarah Everard and Wenjing Lin. This is the cost of unchecked male violence in society. In the space of a few days, two clever, loved and loving young women lost their lives. There will have been others in the last week, women who were killed without ever making the news.
I'm absolutely thrilled to announce that The Five has been shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction. Congratulations to those with whom I share this great honour.
Just to clarify,
@TelegraphNews
I’m furious about being seriously misquoted in this story. Your journalist contacted me about historical inaccuracies which I hadn’t even noticed! Now, my so called griping is the story.
Tonight would have been
@greg_jenner
's book launch for his book about celebrity culture in history, DEAD FAMOUS. Because it's been cancelled, we've moved the party to Twitter and you're all invited! Raise a glass to Greg, and more importantly, BUY HIS BOOK!!🍾🍾🍾
So many other fascinating women who lived in the 18th century deserve a chance to have their story told. So many gripping tales from Revolutionary France. Do we have to recycle the same stories over and over again? History is more than monarchs.
Second World War historians, have any of you come across stories about people complaining about the black out during the Blitz? People who didn't want to use black out curtains or switch off their lights because it infringed their rights? Just wondering.
I have never had a safety net, I never had a mentor opening doors for me, I took wrong turns in my career, but after all of that, I landed here. I'm here to tell you that you can do it. Don't give up. Find a way to make it work.
I’m all for the reappraisal of female historical figures but Marie Antoinette was never “Free, independent and feminist ahead of her time”. She lived in a gilded cage and “feminism” as it would have been understood in 18th c France was not part of her life
I had a conversation about what, if anything I should do about this with a fellow female historian who has been subjected to all sorts of harassment. We agreed it’s important to publicly document that this stuff goes on. That an author should be killed for a book is unacceptable
@nokingbutCaesar
In other words, she was asking for it. They are always 'asking for it', these women who die at the hands of men who 'love' them. Anastasia's brother presents another picture - one of a jealous, violent lover who didn't want her to go to a party with her friends that night.
@nokingbutCaesar
Her murderer (whose name I will not mention) was a man with a violent past. He attacked another girlfriend with an iron, apparently, yet people were happy enough to look the other way. You know how it is with these great men of genius and these silly little girls.
A new BBC doc about Jack the Ripper invites audiences to “understand the extraordinary risks the Ripper took to kill his victims” and places the women on a 'virtual reality dissection table'.
A few thoughts about using dead women’s bodies as entertainment
- blue background represents the Pacific Ocean off the California coast
- two golden rays across the shield symbolic of its sunshine
- three quills represent communication and the power of words
- golden poppies for California's state flower
The fact that I even had to consider whether a so-called joke about my murder on a public platform warranted any sort of response tells you a great deal about what goes through women’s minds on most days.
Shall we say this all together one more time:
Men who murder women are not interesting, tragic or misunderstood victims.
They do not deserve the limelight.
How tone-deaf do you have to be to create and promote a film about a murderer and call it 'remarkable'.
#Maleviolence
is anything but extraordinary. It is an epidemic.
The media continues to fail in their duty to report fatal domestic abuse responsibly.
Elizabeth Stride & Kate Eddowes, 2 women with different lives who just happened to die on the same day: today in 1888. The 1st was a Swede & the owner of a coffee house, the 2nd was a ballad seller from Wolverhampton. History has only ever known them as victims of Jack the Ripper
'You can have your own 'family' without having children. You can live your own version of 'having it all'. And it will be full of life and love.'
Women need to hear this message. It is possible to be happy without children. Pity isn't always necessary.
Women spend so much of our lives living in fear of physical attack that most of us have completely normalised the experience. I'm not sure men fully appreciate what this is like. I've even surprised myself that I've just accepted it as 'part of being a woman'. Some examples...
@nokingbutCaesar
Where femicide is concerned, there is always an element of victim blaming present, and it's on this point that the press usually jumps (enthusiastically). 'I thought this girl was an ideal creature and she gradually turned into a beast from a scary fairy tale', her killer said.
Many people have asked me why I didn’t include Martha Tabram in my exploration of the lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper. Martha is not considered one of the Canonical Five victims. However, I thought I’d briefly tell her story today, so buckle up...
#thefivewomen
From a Russian source,
@nokingbutCaesar
I was sent some translations of what's being said about her in Russia. She is described as 'An honest and truthful woman who was never afraid of having an unpopular opinion if she believed it was truth'.
I doubted myself so often, I made sacrifices, I felt alone, lost and insignificant. These past 12 months have changed everything for me and taught me that I was correct to persevere in my chosen career. Being a writer is not easy, but don't give up on your dreams.
@nokingbutCaesar
She was a committed historian, passionate about the Napoleonic era, to the extent that her friends often joked that she was born in the wrong century. To any historian, those are familiar sentiments. Her career was a promising one. At 24, she had her whole life ahead of her.
For centuries women took poisons, threw themselves down the stairs, injured themselves, often killed themselves in acts of utter desperation. They boiled coins and drank the water, they took pennyroyal and rue. All this before attempting a 'surgical abortion'.
As I watch the numbers mount in favour of Biden and the possibility of a Trump second term fade away, a quiet voice keeps whispering 'you're next, Boris'...
Today I saw my first "No Masks Worn Here' sign on a tearoom door. Just below it, 'please do not use hand sanitizer, Jill is allergic to it'.
I'm pleased to report that business was not booming.