Somebody's Mother, Somebody's Daughter

True Stories from Victims and Survivors of the Yorkshire Ripper

By: Carol Ann Lee

Narrated by: Sophie Roberts

Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's 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Based on previously unpublished material and fresh firsthand interviews, the audiobook examines the Yorkshire Ripper story from a new perspective: focusing on the women and putting the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.

©2019 Carol Ann Lee (P)2019 Michael O'Mara

Was very enlightening

I was very young when the Ripper was around and only really remember some of the headlines. This is a fascinating review of a true monster and somehow tries to explain why he did what he did. These women were sadly missed by their families and should not be forgotten.

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.

Great apart from the feminist slant

This is a very well written and interesting book but it is marred by the feminist slant. I fail to see what a Peter Sutcliffe has in common with Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump (as implied in the introduction) apart from the same genitals. In any case, I am glad to have listened to this book and to have learnt about the victims and the wider impact of his crimes. I would recommend.

A book that every person should read!

I remember waking up one morning as a child... he had struck in our Village of Farsley.

I listened to the author on an interview and decided to buy the book.

I thought this would be written with understanding and as it’s from the perspective of a woman, not a man, it is an incredible account intertwined with their lives, their backgrounds and their lives.

Hearing these stories is heartbreaking.

Seeing how these women were referred to in the press... will bring you to tears.

Hearing how many times he could have been caught will frustrate you beyond belief.

This book will stay with me forever, the frustration, the broken lives and how they and their families are still living with this today.

Touching, delicate and humanely written, you will get to know a little about each of them as women, the people they were and of their lives.

This is then layered with “his” accounts on top.

A difficult subject written with such skill it’s a book that sadly is not fiction and I only wish it was.

An amazing narrator too.

forget the ripper this is the real womens stories

at last, the women's perspective. sutcliffe was a coward unlike the brave women and their families who finally get the opportunity to portray the people behind the tabloid parodies of "good and "good time" girls. well read, but personally I think the narrator should have had a Yorkshire accent but didn't detract from this informative book

Author hates men

I personally struggled with this audio, because the book would start up and get really interesting. Then the author would add some needless I hate men undertones, almost as if men are an inferior sex. which by the end of the book was grinding to say the least.

she obviously meet some of the women and families ect. which is great for factual content and okay I get it. but she writes about the girls as if they were nuns in the local church.

when some glaringly had their troubles like we all do, I personally find it difficult to listen to 5 minutes of pappering over the truth before moving on to some actual content.

a good example of this is a witness, a woman in a factory doing a rather simple job. it was spoke about like she was a rocket scientist and such a kind person ect a real role model.

Any Male. I mean any Male who even went out his way to be helpful and useful would be summed up in 10 seconds. while we listened to tracy in the factory with the most mundane job you've ever heard of in your life, for a good 3 minutes.

which is a shame because it has some very good content and obviously had alot of work put into it. overal a painful listen

Gripping book

What a gripping book could not put it down. Amazing insight into the victims story

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.

EXCELLENT

Highly moving incredibly sad very very good probably the best true crime book out there excellent highly recommended

Harrowing!

I grew up in the area where these horrific events took place but had moved before it all started. However, I remember the fear my mother had and she told me how women organised routes home with others to avoid being alone on the streets at this time. These were ordinary women, doing ordinary things but their fear was very real. This book brought those memories back and it is an valuable book as it paints a proper picture of the victims which is important. The book also serves as a reminder just how misogynistic attitudes of the police and press were in those times - we have made much progress but...a difficult but interesting read.

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.)