Bøker av Hallie Rubenhold

***By the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of THE FIVE***'A fascinating expose of the seamy side of eighteenth century life' MAIL ON SUNDAY'Rubenhold's pages practically reek with smelly, pox-ridden Georgian Soho' GUARDIAN-------------------------------------------------------In 1757, a down-and-out Irish poet, the head waiter at the Shakespear's Head Tavern in Covent Garden, and a celebrated London courtesan became bound together by the publication of a little book: Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies. This salacious work - detailing the names and 'specialities' of the capital's sex-workers- became one of the eighteenth century's most scandalous bestsellers.Yet beyond its titillating passages lies a glimpse into the lives of those who lived and died by its profits - a tragicomic opera of the Georgian era, motivated by poverty, passionate love, aspiration and shame. In this modern and visceral narrative, historian Hallie Rubenhold reveals the story behind Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies, and the legion of ordinary women whose lives in the sex trade history has chosen to ignore. 'Scrupulously researched' DAILY TELEGRAPH'Crackles with drama and tension' GUARDIAN'Compelling and ingenious' INDEPENDENTWHAT READERS ARE SAYING:'This book is an absolute 'must'-read for any person interested in English social history' 5 ****'Fascinating' 5 ****'Brilliant. Full of intelligent insight which brings this period to vibrant life' 5 ****

BY THE AUTHOR OF MULTI-AWARDWINNING #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER: THE FIVE, THE WOMEN KILLED BY JACK THE RIPPERA fascinating feminist retelling of the historical true-crime story of infamous wife-murderer Dr Crippen in Edwardian England, brought to justice by an extraordinary group of musichall women'Unbelievably addictive. Written with a unique combination of sleuthing, storytelling and compassion' LUCY WORSLEY___________No murderer should ever be the keeper of their victim's story ...On 1 February, 1910, vivacious musichall performer, Belle Elmore, suddenly vanished from her north London home, causing alarm among her circle of female friends, the entertainers of the Music Hall Ladies' Guild who demanded an immediate investigation.They could not have known what they would provoke: the unearthing of a gruesome secret, followed by a fevered manhunt for the prime suspect: Belle's husband, medical fraudster, Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen.Hiding in the shadows of this evergreen tale is Crippen's typist and lover, Ethel Le Neve - was she really just 'an innocent young girl' in thrall to a powerful older man as so many people have since reported?And what is the story behind the death of Crippen's first wife, Charlotte, who died so quietly, never to be heard of again?In this epic examination of one of the most infamous murders of the twentieth century, prizewinning social historian Hallie Rubenhold gives voice to those who have never properly been heard - the women.Featuring a carnival cast of eccentric entertainers, glamorous lawyers, zealous detectives, medics and liars, STORY OF A MURDER is forensically researched and multi-layered, offering the contemporary reader an electrifying snapshot of Britain and America at the dawn of the modern era.

**PRE-ORDER: The gripping, groundbreaking historical true crime from the award-winning #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of THE FIVE**This is the story of a murder, not a murderer ... Throughout the 20th century, the infamous 'Crippen murder' was told in such a way as to cast doubt on Crippen's guilt and to victim-blame his wife Cora, a musichall actress, for her own murder. It also astonishingly depicted Crippen's younger mistress Ethel as innocent of any involvement in the killing of her love rival. Not so, says Rubenhold. In fact, Ethel got away with murder, and the same Edwardian beliefs about women that demonised his wife also blinded society to Ethel's guilt. By telling the story through the women's eyes, we see clearly who this lying, deceitful, misogynistic criminal doctor was. He was not 'the mild-mannered murderer' as everyone from Raymond Chandler to Dorothy Sayers has suggested, but a dead-eyed, unrepentant killer. STORY OF A MURDER is a grand experiment in subverting a famous history. With a galloping narrative at its centre, it explores the late Victorian and Edwardian era, class aspiration, the transatlantic world and the incredible period of social revolution for women.

Miscast in the media for nearly 130 years, the victims of Jack the Ripper finally get their full stories told in this eye-opening and chilling reminder that life for middle-class women in Victorian London could be full of social pitfalls and peril.

Henrietta Lightfoot trips on her silk gown as she runs for her life along the bloodstained streets of revolutionary Paris. She finds refuge in the lavish home of Grace Dalyrmple Elliott, one of the old regime's most powerful courtesans. But heads are beginning to roll.

It was the divorce that scandalised Georgian England... Their marriage had the makings of a fairy tale but ended as one of the most salacious and highly publicised divorces in history. For over two hundred years the story of Lady Worsley, her vengeful husband, and her lover, George Maurice Bisset, lay forgotten.

Georgian England, 1789. Under a cloud of scandal, Henrietta Lightfoot flees her home at Melmouth Park. She has little money and no worthwhile talents, for what use is a neat stitch and a pretty voice outside the drawing room? Without family support, her only hope of survival lies with the dashing but elusive Lord Allenham...