Whitechapel

 This story is set against the backcloth of the 1888 Whitechapel murders in which the question is posed whether, by focusing attention on the East End, the murders did more to accelerate social change than philanthropists and politicians. 

The novel asks whether the end can ever justify the most terrible of means. The story is woven around real-life characters and events, and voices are given to the strong, independent women of the slums.