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Somebody's Mother, Somebody's Daughter
- True Stories from Victims and Survivors of the Yorkshire Ripper
- Narrated by: Sophie Roberts
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
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Somebody's Mother, Somebody's Daughter
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Summary
Much has been written about the brutal crimes of Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, and - 35 years after he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 13 women - scarcely a week goes by without some mention of him in the media.
In any story featuring Sutcliffe, however, his victims are incidental, often reduced to a tableau of nameless faces. But each woman was much more than the manner of her death, and in Somebody’s Mother, Somebody’s Daughter, Carol Ann Lee tells, for the first time, the stories of those women who came into Sutcliffe’s murderous orbit, restoring their individuality to them and giving a voice to their families, including the 23 children whom he left motherless.
Based on previously unpublished material and fresh firsthand interviews, the audiobook examines the Yorkshire Ripper story from a new perspective: focusing on the women and putting the listener in a similar position to those who lived through that time. The killer, although we know his identity, remains a shadowy figure throughout, present only as the perpetrator of the attacks.
By talking to survivors and their families, and to the families of the murdered women, Carol Ann Lee gets to the core truths of their lives and experiences, not only at the hands of Sutcliffe but also with the Yorkshire Police and their crass and ham-fisted handling of the case, where the women were put into two categories: prostitutes and non-prostitutes. In this audiobook they are simply women, and all have moving backstories.
The grim reality is that not enough has changed within society to make the angle this audiobook takes on the Yorkshire Ripper case a purely historical one. Recent news stories have shown that women and girls who come forward to report serious crimes of a sexual nature are often judged as harshly - and often more so - than the men who have wronged them. The Rochdale sex abuse scandal, the allegations against Harvey Weinstein and the US President's deplorable comments about women are vivid reminders that those in positions of power regard women as second class citizens. At the same time, the discussions arising from these recent stories, and much of the reporting, show that women are judged today as much on their preferences, habits and appearance as they were at the time of the Yorkshire Ripper attacks. The son of Wilma McCann, Sutcliffe's first known murder victim, told the author, 'We still have a very long way to go', and in that regard he is correct.
Hard-hitting and wholly unique in approach, this timely audiobook sheds new light on a case that still grips the nation.
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What listeners say about Somebody's Mother, Somebody's Daughter
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Nogbad the bad
- 15-04-19
EXCELLENT
Highly moving incredibly sad very very good probably the best true crime book out there excellent highly recommended
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- John
- 04-08-20
Fascinating and factual from a different angle
As someone born in Leeds this is an excellent factual piece of of work, does not focus on scumbag Sutcliffe but instead gives a good factual account of events, the people affected and Leeds/Bradford from that era that really brings home the grip he held over the city at the time.
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3 people found this helpful
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- M. Pears
- 04-03-21
Forget everything you thought you knew...
This was a fascinating read. The victims have never really had a voice and this book makes you question everything we were ever told about them and tells of the breathtaking misogyny from the press and police that undoubtedly resulted in more deaths than there should have been and a hell of a lot more misery.
Outstanding.
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- Anastacia
- 11-05-23
A hard listen
This was such a hard listen. At times I had to stop and do something else as it was so upsetting.
it's a book about the woman and it really gets into how these women were portrayed at the time.
very upsetting but a must read
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- Claire Hirst
- 28-03-19
Riveting
Being from Leeds, I thought I'd grown up knowing all about the story of the ripper. Now I realise how little I knew because I never thought of the victims. Really opened my eyes, especially to the dangers my mother and other family lived through.
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9 people found this helpful
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- JANIE
- 15-04-21
Thank goodness for this book -
Finally we can put characters and personality to gruesome pictures and stories - redress the balance and concentrate on the victims not the perpetrator.. it is harrowing and so desperately sad fir these unfortunate women but it is also wonderful to know more about the lives of these people who till now have just been names. Written and narrated by women about a group of women unfortunately lumped together but now so real - the fallout is ghastly but the women’s themselves are still fantastic and deserve to be remembered for themselves ..,I recommended every woman read this and men too ..
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- Marianna
- 20-09-19
Great listening
Being Italian , I knew very little about the Yorkshire rippe, this very touching book made me enter in his reign og terror, and in the hell of the survivors to his crime. The reader is spotless and has a marvelous voice.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Tinydon
- 23-05-19
Gripping
It is difficult to review this book because it is fact not fiction. Written with sensitivity to the victims and their families it is worth reading. (Saying that, the narrator is not one I would choose to listen to again but that is just my own preference.)
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2 people found this helpful
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- Buyer
- 25-05-21
wonderful
what a fabulous story told from the point of view or the victim...there was so much prejudice when these dear women stories were first told in the media.. but they were and all very much are dear women, mothers, daughters sisters.....
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- Vicky Gillingham
- 12-01-20
Great book
An excellent look at the Ripper story from a different perspective. I usually shy away from long audiobooks but I have devoured this in record time as it was so gripping, well written and narrated. Although I was only born at the time the Ripper was on his murderous rampage I grew up in west yorkshire and thought I knew the story, of prostitute killer and police incompetence, this book tells you so much more, from the tragic lives of some of the victims, to the totally normal lives of the others. It tells of the impact on the survivors and the families of the victims and of the awful attitudes towards these women at the time from the police and the press. I'll definitely recommend this book and will be looking into other books by the author.
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