The Women of Whitechapel and Jack the Ripper [Paperback]

Paul West (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1992

In this deeply beguiling novel that is both sensational and serious, West fills in the missing details to offer an explanation of the people and the motive behind the savage murders of five East End prostitutes in 1888. Disturbing and graphic, this novel summons up fresh for us the genuine horror in heinous deeds.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Verbal wizard West, inspired by recent journalism, imagines the infamous Jack the Ripper to have actually been a depraved trio who murdered together to cover up for a slumming duke.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 428 pages
• Publisher: Overlook TP (July 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879514787
• ISBN-13: 978-0879514785
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,339,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't satisfy Ripper-ologists, but..., December 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Women of Whitechapel and Jack the Ripper (Paperback)

the book is much more than a slash-and-gore filled crime genre mystery. West gives the Women of Whitechapel voice here and plumbs to the depths of a world of sordid artists and royals. There's a harrowing psychological tale to be told here, no matter who committed the murders. And besides, it's much more interesting to imagine the royals doing it than your average guy on the street.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Artist and Jack the Ripper, December 20, 2001

By 

Arnold Harris (Lawtey, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Women of Whitechapel and Jack the Ripper (Paperback)

Paul West's novel is an often intriguing, luridly fascinating meditation on the sensational Ripper murders, the very nature of evil itself, the obligations and prerogatives of art, and, ultimately the responsibilities of the artist toward society, and his fellow human beings. West's novel, by his own admission in the foreword, is an exercise in creative license writ large. Using the highly speculative, but nonetheless fascinating "Royal Conspiracy" scenario for the gruesome murder spree that took the lives of five prostitutes in the seamy Whitechapel section of London in 1888, the aesthetic core of the book concerns the Impressionist painter, Walter Sickert's almost Hamlet-like agonized ruminations over his role in bringing the scourge of the murderer upon his forlorn and debased victims. Most of the novel is comprised of Sickert's incessant brooding upon his perveted erotic attraction to the vulgar, dissipated women and their squalid environment, as well as its relationship to his art; his self-loathing and condemnation as a coward who not only fails to act to save the women from their ghastly fate, but, disturbingly, experiences a trace of sordid pleasure as they are butchered in front of his very eyes. West has a formidable vocabulary with which to realize his novel's profound artistic ambitions, but unfortunately that very asset ironically leads to the undesired effect of weakening the work's message and impact. West seems intent on flaunting his facillity with polysyllabics, with the result that "The Women of Whitechapel" is often over-written, with many abstruse, impenetrable passages, several re-readings of which fail to bring any light of clarification or comprehension, much to the reader's frustration That is a shame, too, because there is much that is admirable and thought-provoking in this otherwise seminal work that delves deeply into all the issues resonating from the Ripper crimes, including the institutionalized evils of misogyny, as well as the social and economic iniquities of the Victorian England which is its setting.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Old Ripper Theory Wrapped in Purple, November 26, 2001

By 

P A Brown (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Women of Whitechapel and Jack the Ripper (Paperback)

"The Women of Whitechapel" is a book that relies on elaborate, even obtuse language in an attempt to capture the spirit and ambiance of Victorian London stalked by a killer. The story is all to familiar to recount, and West relies on a very old and totally disproven Ripper theory (Dr. Gull in a carriage killing off friends of Prince Eddy's secret Catholic wife.) The twist is throwing into play the character of the painter Walter Sickert (another non-placer amongst Ripper theories) to shape the narrative. West's prose is a little over-reaching, but the story, perhaps because of its very familiarity, flows quickly. No surprises here; just $50 words and a tired tale.