Facing the Yorkshire Ripper: The Art of Survival

by Mo Lea

Decades after her brutal attack by the notorious serial killer, an artist tells her story of survival and recovery in this uplifting memoir.Mo Lea was a young art student in Leeds when her life was changed forever by a deadly assault. On October 25th, 1980, serial killer Peter Sutcliffe attacked her with a hammer and stabbed her with a screwdriver. Surviving with a fractured skull and PTSD, Mo spent years wrestling with a morbid narrative that cast her as a victim. Now Mo offers a fresh perspective on her life, sharing valuable insight into her successful recovery process. While art had always been important to her, it became a vital outlet for exploring her pain, her anger, and her ultimate triumph over them. Drawing a meticulous portrait of Sutcliffe, she then found catharsis in tearing it to bits—ripping up the Ripper.In candid words and stirring illustrations, Mo reclaims her own story, telling of her journey from tragic despair to calmness and acceptance.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

227 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 4, 2022

Reviews

[Sal Fields · Rating 5 out of 5]

Facing the Yorkshire Ripper: The Art of Survival is exactly that. Do not pick up this book if all you want is to hear the gory details and get your true crime fix. This heart wrenching book is about how Mo Lea learned to survive after being attacked by one of the most notorious serial killers Britain has ever seen, and it had me absolutely gripped.

Mo Lea is a fascinating person, and a captivating writer. Her words make you feel like you are with her through every moment. You feel the things that she feels; the whirlwind of confusion after the attack, the frustration at not being heard, the piecing back together bit by bit of life, and overcoming the physical and emotional scarring caused by the ordeal she has been through.

Surviving an attack is not just about physical survival in the days following, but it is also about making it through every day afterwards, not knowing whether you’ll see a newspaper headline, or overhear someone talking about your attacker on the bus. Sutcliffe was very high profile, and talk of him around the time, and in the many years following has never lulled. There was absolutely no escape from the past and what had happened to her, constantly being branded as a victim, and no longer an actual person. Not only that, but also the constant worry that Sutcliffe still hadn’t confessed to the attack- if not him, was the perpetrator still out there?

You are taken on a journey through Mo’s survival, her struggles over blaming being cruelly selected simply because she is female, and her worries of how she will be perceived with Sutcliffe’s reputation of the type of women he targeted.

I love how the book focuses on art giving Mo an outlet to explore how she was feeling, and you can clearly see throughout the book, and by her work featured at the end, that it enabled her to express her anger, and her pain, and in turn help her to be successful at moving on with her life.

I am so glad that Mo decided to share her story of survival with us, and that I was lucky enough to be selected to read it. I would highly recommend this book.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

How can someone's struggle with survival not earn 5 stars? This is true events. Horrific true events. I'm not normally a non-fiction fan but the description of this book caught my attention and it continued to hold my interest. No speed reading or skipping bits for me!

Mo is now a Hero of mine. The kind of physical injuries Mo suffered were horrific and she's lucky to have survived but it sounds as if she is still trying to survive on a daily basis with the mental injuries. Although the book ends with a symbolic event, this won't wipe the mental slate clean. Like Mo mentions herself, no matter how far away from the site of the attack, that event will always be with her.

I'm quite surprised with the police dealing with this case. Quite shocking really. Not being able to confirm the link with a possible Peter Sutcliffe attack. I wouldn't want to have my clothes back covered in blood stains from the attack and yet that is what the police did eventually.

I wish Mo a happy and healthy life with Sophy and many more beautiful art pictures to help her deal with her own survival here on in.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Pen and Sword for the arc of Facing the Yorkshire Ripper by Mo Lea.

This follows Mo's story about her encounter with the Yorkshire Ripper, so this is about her side of the story, her trauma as well as how it affected her mental health! She had to have councilling, and has severe PTSD because of what happened. This also shows the development of her being embarrased to say anything to her wanting to fundraise for charities to support victims and to show how she has turned her life around after a horrific encounter happened... and basically how she survived after being attacked by the Yorkshire Ripper!!

This was a heartwrenching read and had me so gripped! It also made you feel like you was there with her when all this happens..

HIGHLY RECOMMEND 5 STARS!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Rebecca Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not your normal run of the mill crime story. Knowing the story of the Yorkshire Ripper, Mo Lea fell victim to the killer herself, managing to survive the brutal attack that followed.

I really enjoyed reading this one. It was a different accounting than what you are used to reading, but it was gripping, and you could not turn the pages fast enough to see what happened next!

Great for weekend reads.

[Donna Maguire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really intrigued by this book and I had my copy to read just before the news of his death came up in the news so I left the book for a while to allow that to calm down for me to really be able to get in to Mo’s story without the news being an influence.

The book is well written and Mo had really opened up about her story and the trauma’s she went through at the hands of her attacker and has been honest about the state of her mental health after this and how much it affected her, I am not surprised at all that she advises that she suffered from PTSD and underwent counselling.

The book shows how she went from someone who was embarrassed from talking about her attack through to almost embracing it and wanting to raise funds for charities that support the victims and that shows how she has managed to turn her life around – that said I do get the feeling she will always be haunted by him, especially as she never had the closure and confirmation that it was him as he took that to the grave.

It is 4 stars from me for this one, a good book on the subject that allowed the focus to be on a survivor and not a victim or the killer himself – highly recommended!

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. Mo, a student at Leeds University was unfortunate enough to come across Peter Sutcliffe (AKA The Yorkshire Ripper) one evening. She was one of the few lucky ones who wasn’t killed thanks to the help of a stranger. This is her story. Although physically recovered, it took much longer for her mind and this is about what she did to try to get over the shocking ordeal. Mo is obviously a very talented artist but how the drawings/pics are achieved isn’t very interesting to non arty people. She is to be congratulated for becoming stronger after what she went through. Mostly a very powerful and interesting account (partly the attack and partly a bio) and a must for anyone who likes to read about real crime. I was given this ARC by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Miss C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting but sad story. The author survived the rippers attack, however she did not have closure, as the ripper was not charged with her attack for a long time. It is clear that the attack had a big impact on her life and it is perfectly right that she has the opportunity to tell her own story. It is nice here that the focus is on the victim rather than the perpetrator as often true crime does. Respect should be given for how she pieced her life together in spite of her experience and puts things in perspective. Recommended for lovers of true crime.

[Caroline David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The bravery of the survivor to share their story resonates throughout this book. As a true crime fan, I had heard of the Yorkshire Ripper before but never this in-depth. It was told in a way that was easy to follow and I never felt bored which can happen a lot in true crime with too many facts at once.

[Odette Lattimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you for the advanced copy.

I do love memoirs but have not read many about survival. Mo is a strong character and her art has helped her through.
A gripping and at some points emotional read. How anyone survives this sort of thing takes a lot of mental strength.

[Simon Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunning book highlighting Ms Lea’s crossing paths with Peter Sutcliffe and living to tell the tale. Lea is one of MANY victims who have gone unrecognised but who deserve to be heard.

Her artwork is amazing.

[Niklas Pivic · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is written in a very brief way, which I enjoyed. Here’s an example of Mo Lea’s style:

No one in my circle of friends spoke about the murders – perhaps we didn’t want it to spoil our fun. At first I avoided reading the sordid stories but it soon became impossible. The newspapers referred to these women in a derogatory way, as simply ‘prostitutes’. The reports were more interested in the perpetrator and his media-friendly moniker that helped sell papers. I wondered what this madman must have felt when he saw the headlines? How he must have gloated at his new-found fame.

Simple: enough said.

I can’t say how much I enjoy books where the author has made their voice available by being succinct.

That September, the Ripper murdered Barbara Leach. She wasn’t a prostitute but a ‘respectable’ student, in the third and final year of her degree at Bradford University. I was shocked to read that she was killed by a hammer blow to her head. The Ripper had followed her home after she left the pub alone, after spending the evening with her friends. I wasn’t the only one to be taken aback by the news – the atmosphere in the student-populated areas of Leeds changed overnight in those darkening months of 1979. There was palpable tension in the poorly lit streets. Now it made more sense to have friends come round and stay in rather than go out. No one stayed late in the art school studios. People studied at home and visited each other in town centre cafes during daylight. We would have frothy coffees and flapjacks in the day rather than bus it out to the town centre pubs in the evenings.

Lea’s brief stories, paved with short sentences, are sign of a story waiting to be told.

Her story of surviving an attack by Peter Sutcliffe, also known as The Yorkshire Ripper, is a tragic tale of how police utterly mismanaged a case where the culprit should and could have been apprehended early on. The English BBC have done a massive job in airing the TV series The Yorkshire Ripper Files: A Very British Crime Story, which speaks truth of how the investigation was mishandled.

On the other hand: Lea’s story of her life.

The police played down the attack. They took me to a side room and took a statement from me. I told them I could draw the face of the attacker but they didn’t think that was required. There was certainly no mention of the Yorkshire Ripper and they had discouraged the matron and the nursing staff from talking to the press, who were sniffing around the hospital.

At the same time as we were enjoying the fireworks in Birkenhead, far away in Huddersfield another young woman was being attacked. A 16-year-old girl called Theresa Sykes was followed as she walked back home from a grocery shop after buying cigarettes. A man emerged from the shadows wielding a hammer and struck her on the head from behind. She was hit twice and the second blow left a half-moon shaped scar. Thankfully, she survived. The news shook everyone and chilled me to the bone. Now the streets of Yorkshire had become completely deserted.

Lea also tells a horrifying story of not being a cis-gendered woman in the twentieth century:

One night I booked a table at a local Italian restaurant. For most of the time we were unaware of other customers and on occasion would gently touch each other’s hands across the table. As we chatted away I became aware of the table next to us getting louder. Some women in a hen party had spotted that we were more than just good friends. They began by giving us dirty looks and making sly comments. I folded my arms tightly feeling awkward and embarrassed, but to my surprise Sophy pulled her chair up to their table and asked if they had a problem and if so, could she help. She returned to our table telling me that it was always a good strategy to meet this kind of aggravation calmly and head on. However, as she was talking one of the women threw a cup at us. I ducked and it smashed inches above my head and hot coffee splattered across my chest, burning through my white sweater.

I was close to a furious outburst, but Sophy pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at the drips with a comedic flourish. This made me crack up with laughter. One of the women stood up and screeched: ‘Your type makes me wanna puke. You’re sick in the head the pair of you!’ This made us laugh even more. Sophy asked if I would be alright on my own. I reassured her I was OK. I felt I had to learn how to cope if this was what I was due to expect. She went to the front desk to ask if the manager would kindly ask the noisy guests to calm down and she came to the table waving her arms apologising profusely. The waiters fussed around us, bringing us complimentary large brandies and coffee.

I learned from Sophy never be bullied into leaving a situation. In her company, I felt strong. We sipped our drinks and let the hostile atmosphere settle, but my anger surfaced and I wanted an apology as my brand-new angora sweater was now ruined, as was our romantic dinner. When we decided to leave, I asked Sophy to collect our coats. I wanted to put into practice what she had shown me. I stood up, leant over their table and boomed loudly: ‘You are all an embarrassment to the human race let alone the women’s movement!’

As we left the restaurant, we strolled off arm in arm laughing at the bizarre pantomime. It dawned on me what we were up against. I was surprised that our love for each other posed such a threat, but Sophy made me feel truly empowered.

Lea paints a picture of her life: she travels to the USA where she advances as an artist. She continues life, and is reminded of what has once happened since her traumatic ordeal, especially considering how English tabloids work (and don’t work).

Sadly, what makes this book work is also its downfall: Lea’s stories of different aspects of her life lack the rhythm of what made the beginning of this book feel exciting. While I appreciate how this book works, there’s not enough passion in the pages for me to keep it going.

[Thieving Magpie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very unique and amazing book. It is the first time I was reading a biography, a true crime novel which was written by the surviver of a serial killer. You can feel how much work and emortions the author put into this book and I was swept away. I am a bit disappointed, for Ms Lea though, that it was never properly figured out whether it was the Yorkshire Ripper who had attacked her or not. For her sake, I hope it was him, giving Ms Lea a sense of safety, knowing that her attacker is safely behind bars. I was very surprised to read that she actually met with the Ripper.
I had just watche a Netflix documentary about the Yorkshire Ripper before reading this book, so I was already informed on the Ripper, but there's a difference watching a documentary about a serial killer or reading a memoir by a person who possibly has been attacked by said serial killer.
It's a great book, full of survial and strength, full of fenimism and fight - but the writing style wasn't for me. I enjoyed the pictures at the end of the book more than the writing, which seems such a horrible thing to say, considering the topic of this book, but it's the truth. I still enjoyed reading it, because it was different and important approach on True Crime literature.

I received a free ARC by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Lisa Bentley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear. I don’t know what I was expecting with the true crime novel Facing the Yorkshire Ripper but I know I wasn’t expecting to come away from the story feeling unsympathetic to the survivor. Not in a horrible way, I mean, I am glad she survived but I just felt that she didn’t seem to help herself with her survival and this is where I am going to sound awful but it is almost like she used her victimhood too much but then proclaimed that she didn’t want to be a victim. It was almost like she used what had happened to her to justify her behaviour. This is probably due to me and author Mo Lea having very different perspectives when it comes to trauma and I don’t want to take away from her lived experience but the book Facing the Yorkshire Ripper didn’t endear me at all.

Facing the Yorkshire Ripper – The Art of Survival by Mo Lea is available now.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started good and let me tell you I love a good true crime book. This was passable but not spectacular.

I found that the book really wasn't what I was hoping for which would have been a lot more about nkthe actual crime but it seems to show more about the life after. I much prefer to see the facts leading up to the crime.

I just didn't see enough for me of the crime and about the actual perpetrator. The survival was unique and while I did enjoy the story of this survivor it felt not strong enough for me.

[teleri · Rating 1 out of 5]

This wasn’t interesting to me at all. I expected more than the constant talk of her artworks. I understood that the book would mention how she coped with it all, but it felt very religious? despite not being a religious book. It just had that constant, happy vibe despite talking about awful things to it.

I really hoped for more to be honest.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book a while ago, and it was unlike any other true crime I had previously read before, it didn't veer into sensationalist tropes that we often see. It really struck a chord with me and has stayed with me!
I found that the author's retelling of her story and how she grappled with the 'victim' vs 'survivor' identities.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the only memoir I have come across by someone who survived an attack by the Yorkshire Ripper. In a lot of ways this is the typical story arc of someone who's been assaulted; she soldiers through as long as she can, until she can't, and then it all finally comes out. She hardly seems to notice -- or at any rate she barely comments on -- that from the time she crossed paths with Peter Surcliffe he became the center of her life, the reason she worked (or didn't), the reason relationships did or didn't work out, the ghost occupying the empty chair at the dinner table. This is also a fresh, new exploration.of the many ways the police screwed up this investigation.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read which had me gripped. The lady was so brave and this is so well written and a credit to her

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a truly honest account of every emotion, thought and feeling survivor of the Yorkshire Ripper, Mo Lea went through to get to where she is now.

An interesting read and highly recommend.

[Cameron Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone ever played the game Unpacking? This is it but with a serial killer

[Deity World · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what a story so emotional and brave to have written about all this. I vaguely remember her on the Netflix documentary. I hope she gets justice.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have received this title via NetGalley and publishers in exchange for an honest review
I really enjoyed this book. It covered all the the thoughts and feelings she has had regarding her encounter with the Yorkshire Ripper. She described the details about her life leading up to it. She described the past crimes that had been committed. She detailed her recovery, her denial, her struggles with the police (which always infuriate me), and her life after the attack. It was very thorough. I did find myself less engaged with all the talk about art. I understand why it was included, but I felt the ratio of how much she talked about her art vs. anything was was a bit off.

[Ryan Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the 20th of October 1980 (few days before her 21st Birthday) art student Mo Lea spends a night out with friends in Leed’s student area. The air of a city under siege is clear to the local student population. Even in this insidious atmosphere, Mo Lea takes the risk of taking a short dimly lit walk home. In his fifth (and final) year, the Yorkshire Ripper's modus operandi shifts in victimology from prostitutes to random young women and students in and around the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the heart of urban England.

The artist and art itself is the leitmotif that runs throughout this true-crime biography and its a technique that tells the story well. Shortly after the attack itself, Mo’s creative process is dark imagery, exhibitions, and portfolios full of macabre drawings and paintings, the artistic emotional torture is conveyed in excruciating detail.

As the year’s progress, Mo Lea takes us on a journey through the United States, Leeds, Bedfordshire, and even a life-affirming meeting with a woman that changes the artist’s life, and sexuality, in one swift move. Like brush strokes on a blank canvas, Mo’s paints her prose well and delivers a harrowing yet engaging account. Although the book is a bit dry on the more titillating details of Sutcliffe’s crimes (maybe not one for all true crime fans) it is, however, an inspiring story of recovery, reinvention, and the ability to overcome.

Mo also delves deep into her emotionally fraught and tiresome dealings with the gross incompetence of West Yorkshire Police and their notorious mismanagement of the Yorkshire Ripper case. Although Mo does seem to recover, that part of the story is a wound that seems to remain open.

For some, it would leave a sour taste but Mo’s story is one of positive recovery and enlightenment.

4/5