Whitechapel Girl - Softcover

As hard as the characters you find there and Ettie Wilkins knows this better than anyone.

Her mother is a raging alcoholic who lives with a violent lodger who often turns his attentions to Ettie herself once her mother has fallen into yet another gin induced stupor.

Finally, the lodgers wondering hands and violent outbreaks and the one-room slum which makes up her life becomes too unbearable and Ettie Wilkins must get out of Whitechapel.

When Ettie and her friend May head to the penny gaffs, one of life’s few pleasures available to them, escape from the dirt and the pain of Whitechapel suddenly seems possible.

Amongst the cheap sideshow of horrors and magic, Ettie meets the debonair Professor Jacob Protsky.

Picking Ettie out of the crowd as his muse for his spiritual encounters, could Jacob be her ticket to a new life?

Despite protestations from May and her older brother Billy, Ettie seizes her chance and goes to live with Protsky who soon transforms her into a lovely young lady.

Using Ettie has his way into the salons of rich Londoners, excited by the artistry and showmanship of fake spiritualism, Jacob turns Ettie into the focus of his performances as ‘the silent beauty.’

One evening at an important séance, Ettie spots a young woman in the audience: Celia Tressing who looks as lost and unhappy as Ettie.

Although she has escaped her life of drudgery in Whitechapel and Ettie now has fine clothes and resembles a lady, she misses her friends and family.

Soon Ettie is giving private readings to the troubled young Celia, whilst Ettie herself is increasingly worried by news from Whitechapel: a series of gruesome murders has ravished the community, and foreigners, such as Jacob, are prime suspects...

Whitechapel Girl is a chilling tale that explores the harsh realities of life and the dark goings-on that haunt the community.

Praise for Gilda O’Neill

‘[Gives a] voice to memories of a changing East End’ – The Guardian

'A shocking book which, for once, should dispel the myth that life in the East End was one long knees-up' – Daily Express

'O'Neill chronicles the filth and poverty with leery aplomb, then sobers things up with sharp social commentary' – The Scotsman

Gilda O’Neill (1951-2010) took three university degrees and was awarded an honorary doctorate for her work on the East End. In 1990 O’Neill began writing full-time. She published thirteen novels and six works of non-fiction. She also broadcasted, gave talks and wrote articles about east London history. She tragically died in 2010 from a sudden illness.