The Ripper's Wife by Brandy Purdy

Final Rating: 4.6/5

A dark twisted Victorian story that is hard to look away from.

  Appearances can be deceiving, take for an example this novel's cover art. What an unsuspecting appearing cover, I will be the first to admit I thought of a completely different genre when I first saw it and began reading I felt I had made a mistake and this was not the type of story I could finish and should quietly move on to the other reads that have been waiting patiently. Ah but how quickly this book proves the adage: don't judge a book by its cover. This book transforms quickly within a few chapters from an innocent love story to a tragic wicked nightmare that grips the reader and it becomes nearly impossible to look away from.

  In The Ripper's Wife, our narrator flips through her album of dark memories and invites the reader to look over her shoulder and witness the sinister side of romance. She only asks that all judgment be held until the final tattered page falls and what soon appears from the snap shots of our narrator's reminisces is a twisted tale with a young woman in the midst of a brutal nightmare. Horror can come in many forms and for our narrator hers wears a deerstalker, carries a bag of gore and whose shadowy secrets will become one of the most debatable historical mysteries the world has ever known.

  In the end, The Ripper's Wife was a chilling unsuspecting tale of noteworthy historical research that coincided with an entertaining fictional tale of "what if"; that this reader couldn't put down. If the potential reader is not familiar with the names James Maybrick or his wife Florence Chandler Maybrick- do yourself a favor and not spoil the experience by researching anything before you finish The Ripper's Wife. Ms. Purdy has created a tale that seems so innocent but the passages that follow may haunt your dreams with the vivid descriptions that show the multifaceted levels that can be accomplished by those who have a brilliant imagination and are not afraid to step over the line and explore the alternate of history or turn a warped mystery into a page turner. I hope it is no surprise to any potential reader that this story can be disturbing at times and does contain strong unexpected language; so please take this as a friendly warning that entertainment boundaries may be overstepped for a few with The Ripper's Wife. Still this read was an unexpected page turner for this reader and one read that I am sure will stay in my mind days to come about the creation of a monster and "the Autumn of Terror" of 1888.

* I would like to thank Kensington Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and enjoy The Ripper's Wife