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Jack the Ripper's Secret Confession
While Jack the Ripper spread fear throughout the East End of London in 1888, another man stalked the streets hunting flesh. He called himself 'Walter'. He was a rapist, voyeur, and fetishist obsessed with prostitutes. Walter was not only a wealthy man, but a literary one. In the same year as the Ripper killings, Walter first printed up his vast memoir of sex and perversion under the title "My Secret Life". Fewer than 20 sets were struck off on a secret Amsterdam press between 1888 and 1894. Long banned for obscenity, only censored excerpts of Walter's masterwork were seen for a century. One of the few complete sets not destroyed by the authorities was locked away in the British Library's closed cupboard. This is the story of the volumes in that locked room and the horrific clue they contain - a clue that unlocks the diary as the final confession of Jack the Ripper. "Jack the Ripper's Secret Confession" shows how this notorious work of Victorian pornography reveals that its author had the means, the motive and the opportunity to be Jack the Ripper. As importantly, it delves into dark psychiatric motives within the text, to show Walter possessed the unique psycho-sexual fingerprint of a knife killer.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 15, 2010
In Jack the Ripper's Secret Confession, authors Monaghan and Cawthorne attempt to connect Jack the Ripper to "Walter" the pseudonymous author of My Secret Life. My Secret Life is an 11-volume, million-word-long recounting of Walter's sexual escapades: a dizzying collection of improbable sexual encounters, coerced sex with household staff, trysts with prostitutes and child rape.
Secret Confession works well when the authors use My Secret Life as an access point to understanding the dark side of Victorian sexuality. The age of consent prior to 1885 was an appalling young 13 (in 1885 it became 16) and the fight to raise it was a bloody one. With the age of consent being so young, men who desired virgins (like Walter) preyed on younger girls procured for them through an established virgin trade.
Where Secret Confession fails is in connecting Walter to the Ripper Murders. The authors paraphrase or quote lengthy passages of My Secret Life and try to draw parallels between those selections and details from Ripper Murders. Almost every example feels like an outright stretch, with the authors tweaking facts to suit theories: for the authors' thesis to work, the Ripper's victims solicited virgins for Walter and now he was silencing them.
And, frankly, my confidence in them was shaken early on when the authors spelled the name of witness Mrs. Colville's name three different ways within a few pages.
What might have worked is if the authors could have identified Walter and connected that individual to the crimes, but readers will have to wait until the final chapter for a number of likely suspects. Even then, there's no major attempt vet them as suspects. As it stands, trading one pseudonym for another seems pretty useless.
It's hard for me to believe I could read a 300-page book on Jack the Ripper can come away with no new insights on the case, but that's what happened here. There are no secret confessions here, just a ponderous survey of Victorian sex crimes.
Secret Confession works well when the authors use My Secret Life as an access point to understanding the dark side of Victorian sexuality. The age of consent prior to 1885 was an appalling young 13 (in 1885 it became 16) and the fight to raise it was a bloody one. With the age of consent being so young, men who desired virgins (like Walter) preyed on younger girls procured for them through an established virgin trade.
Where Secret Confession fails is in connecting Walter to the Ripper Murders. The authors paraphrase or quote lengthy passages of My Secret Life and try to draw parallels between those selections and details from Ripper Murders. Almost every example feels like an outright stretch, with the authors tweaking facts to suit theories: for the authors' thesis to work, the Ripper's victims solicited virgins for Walter and now he was silencing them.
And, frankly, my confidence in them was shaken early on when the authors spelled the name of witness Mrs. Colville's name three different ways within a few pages.
What might have worked is if the authors could have identified Walter and connected that individual to the crimes, but readers will have to wait until the final chapter for a number of likely suspects. Even then, there's no major attempt vet them as suspects. As it stands, trading one pseudonym for another seems pretty useless.
It's hard for me to believe I could read a 300-page book on Jack the Ripper can come away with no new insights on the case, but that's what happened here. There are no secret confessions here, just a ponderous survey of Victorian sex crimes.
October 19, 2013
The story of Jack the Ripper has always intrigued me and when I found this book in the library, I couldn't help myself not to pick it up and bring it home. The excitement of wanting to read about who the actual ripper was so overwhelming, I could barely contain myself not to run home and instantly start reading the book. But the excitement was drowned out when I read first couple of chapters. Never in my life had I read such a disgusting kinky crap. As a girl myself, I couldn't help but wince every time those horrible details were provided. It made me cringe and cry out loud when I read how he raped a 10 year old girl, how other older women actually helped him find little girls to molest and take their innocent away.
This book wasn't going to give me the answer of WHO ACTUALLY the Jack the Ripper was, but bunch of assumption of WHO MIGHT be the Jack the Ripper. Though the author used the idea of "Walter", the pseudonymous author of this enormous tome of Victorian "pornography" about his sickly sexual escapades - fully detailed about child rapes, assignation with the prostitutes and forced sex with the maids.
Beside all those horrible details about how men desired a virgin and to what point would he go to get one, it shows how the girls as young as 14-15 enters the life of being a prostitutes, how a brothel owners and "virgin" traders worked to trap numerous innocent girl. Gives us this new insight of the Victorian London that we might not have known, how it was full ofpigs and horny psychos coldblooded humans.
The way the author connected "Walter" to being Jack the Ripper was sort of believable. He used the right quotes *a bit of stretch though* and all to point out his theories, but I would have liked it better if he had actually figured out who "Walter" was. I read the entire book and didn't get any new information on the Jack the Ripper other than what i already had. What a disappointment!
This book wasn't going to give me the answer of WHO ACTUALLY the Jack the Ripper was, but bunch of assumption of WHO MIGHT be the Jack the Ripper. Though the author used the idea of "Walter", the pseudonymous author of this enormous tome of Victorian "pornography" about his sickly sexual escapades - fully detailed about child rapes, assignation with the prostitutes and forced sex with the maids.
Beside all those horrible details about how men desired a virgin and to what point would he go to get one, it shows how the girls as young as 14-15 enters the life of being a prostitutes, how a brothel owners and "virgin" traders worked to trap numerous innocent girl. Gives us this new insight of the Victorian London that we might not have known, how it was full of
The way the author connected "Walter" to being Jack the Ripper was sort of believable. He used the right quotes *a bit of stretch though* and all to point out his theories, but I would have liked it better if he had actually figured out who "Walter" was. I read the entire book and didn't get any new information on the Jack the Ripper other than what i already had. What a disappointment!
August 10, 2018
Sadly, not even the flimsiest piece of research or hint of a link with Jack the Ripper has gone into what is essentially the author's ongoing interest in Walter's child pornography -- even if the original source material smacks of Victorian fiction marketed as autobiography. I was unlucky enough to pick this up alongside actual Ripper research without first reading the blurb. However, I doubt that would have prepared me for the graphic depictions of child and female violence that such a work delights in reproducing. Insulting in every possible regard.
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May 6, 2024After reading this book, I do not think Walter is Jack. Walter was definitely a rapist and pedophile, but i don't see the marks of a killer. I did really enjoy reading about the history of that time.
February 18, 2014
At last! I actually managed to finish this piece of shit (I'm sorry but there is no other word for it)!
I've got to say that this is one of the biggest disappointments I've ever come across in the book world. When I saw this book on the shelf in the shop I got very excited, I mean who doesn't find Jack the Ripper intriguing? However, the content is basically about 'Walters' obsession with raping prostitutes, virgins and children (I'm sorry but was there any need to describe in detail the rape of a 10 year old girl? Couldn't Monaghan have just written that Walter had written about it without going into all the gruesome details? Apparently not). There were flimsy pieces of 'evidence' that apparently tied Walter to the Jack the Ripper murders such as both men use the English language and both happened to have bought prostitutes clothing. However, in my opinion he killed his argument several times. Once in the saga chapter of 'Defloration Mania' when he describes half the city, including the police as wanting to deflower children - surely that leaves lots of other maniacs who would be as capable as Walter of murdering 5 prostitutes? And then there's the fact that Walter was approaching 70 years old and was in 'love' when the Ripper murders took place.
My advice to anyone who is thinking of reading this book is just don't bother. Monaghans argument is completely flawed and guess what? Noone freaking knows who Walter is anyway. In my opinion, this book was written in order for Monaghan to boast that he'd read a very naughty book. Tut tut tut.
I've got to say that this is one of the biggest disappointments I've ever come across in the book world. When I saw this book on the shelf in the shop I got very excited, I mean who doesn't find Jack the Ripper intriguing? However, the content is basically about 'Walters' obsession with raping prostitutes, virgins and children (I'm sorry but was there any need to describe in detail the rape of a 10 year old girl? Couldn't Monaghan have just written that Walter had written about it without going into all the gruesome details? Apparently not). There were flimsy pieces of 'evidence' that apparently tied Walter to the Jack the Ripper murders such as both men use the English language and both happened to have bought prostitutes clothing. However, in my opinion he killed his argument several times. Once in the saga chapter of 'Defloration Mania' when he describes half the city, including the police as wanting to deflower children - surely that leaves lots of other maniacs who would be as capable as Walter of murdering 5 prostitutes? And then there's the fact that Walter was approaching 70 years old and was in 'love' when the Ripper murders took place.
My advice to anyone who is thinking of reading this book is just don't bother. Monaghans argument is completely flawed and guess what? Noone freaking knows who Walter is anyway. In my opinion, this book was written in order for Monaghan to boast that he'd read a very naughty book. Tut tut tut.
January 1, 2013
I did not think I was going to start the new year like this. Never read so much kinky shit in my life. Words I did not even know exist is now engraved in my head together with images of fornication and rape.
"Walter" author of "My Secret Life" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Secre...) is generously quoted in this book. Whether I give a low or high rating, I feel like I would be overlooking the fact that he, Walter, raped a 10 year old girl.
But then this book gives a glimps into a possible Jack The Ripper suspect. Even though the book says "That question is answered here" it has not!
With all my rambling on I will give it a 3 star.
"Walter" author of "My Secret Life" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Secre...) is generously quoted in this book. Whether I give a low or high rating, I feel like I would be overlooking the fact that he, Walter, raped a 10 year old girl.
But then this book gives a glimps into a possible Jack The Ripper suspect. Even though the book says "That question is answered here" it has not!
With all my rambling on I will give it a 3 star.
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February 2, 2014A rather salacious journey into Victorian England at the height of the Ripper scare. The authors lead us on a very disturbing journey into one Victorian gentleman's sexual adventures whilst attempting to tie the subject to the Ripper murders.
Although the subject, one "Walter", documented his perverted sexual escapades, there is no hard evidence of him actually committing any Ripper-style sex crimes - however, the authors hint that these transgressions may be amongst the papers destroyed by Walter prior to publication. Walter is put forward as one of a number of candidates - but in my mind unconvincingly so.
Although the subject, one "Walter", documented his perverted sexual escapades, there is no hard evidence of him actually committing any Ripper-style sex crimes - however, the authors hint that these transgressions may be amongst the papers destroyed by Walter prior to publication. Walter is put forward as one of a number of candidates - but in my mind unconvincingly so.
September 22, 2010
This was a very disturbing read. I had to put it down several but i kept finding myself picking it back up to find out more about this "man". All in all not a bad read but it is not for the faint of heart. They think that this man Walter may have been Jack, but I am not convinced. Plus they don't even know who Walter could have been. I liked it and it has prompted me to want to read the book that this case is built on " My Secret life", which I know will be 100% worse than this was in details of his depravity.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2010
This was a random pick-up at the library, on one of the tables where they put recently published works to catch the eye. It sounded extremely intriguing, so I brought it home. The authors put out the idea that "Walter," the author of that massive tome of Victorian pornography My Secret Life, was Jack the Ripper, and that it is revealed in the aforementioned autobiography through various clues. However, it seemed at all times that the authors were really reaching to make the analogy hang together, and it really didn't for me.
April 29, 2016
So if you like to or love to read books on or about Jack The Ripper then you must read this one if you haven't done so. I've read it like 3 or 4 times already because I think it that good, and it lets you look at how things was done and what happened doing the Victorian time period of Jack The Ripper.
June 6, 2013
This was a surprising let-down. What I expected to find was a new suspect based on his behavior during the Ripper murders. What I got was what seemed to me to be excessive, over-the-top sexual acting out at its basest level. Very disappointing read unless you're a 15-year-old boy.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews