A Novel of Polly Nichols, the First Victim of Jack the Ripper
We all know about Jack the Ripper, the serial murderer who terrorized Whitechapel and confounded police in 1888, but how much do we really know about his victims?
Pursued by one demon into the clutches of another, the ordinary life of Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols is made extraordinary by horrible, inhuman circumstance. Jack the Ripper’s first victim comes to life in this sensitive and intimate fictionalized portrait, from humble beginnings, to building a family with an abusive husband, her escape into poverty and the workhouse, alcoholism, and finally abandoned on the streets of London where the Whitechapel Murderer found her.
With A Brutal Chill in August, Alan M. Clark gives readers an uncompromising and terrifying look at the nearly forgotten human story behind one of the most sensational crimes in history. This is horror that happened.
Cover Art by Alan M. Clark
Cover Design by Scott R. Jones
Pub Date: August 30, 2016
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-939905-25-3
Format: eBook
ISBN-13: 978-1-939905-26-0
Reviews
“With A Brutal Chill in August, Alan M. Clark continues his terrific fictionalized accounts of the Ripper’s victims–always compelling, and always expertly evoking nineteenth century London. Gripping, suspenseful–written with sensitivity and heart.” –Simon Clark, author of Night of the Triffids
“Clark brings to life the plight of London’s poor, and the extremes to which they must go in order to merely survive… or succumb as victims to disease, abuse, alcoholism, or worse. A great read.” –Elizabeth Engstrom, author of Lizzie Borden