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fairginger
Mary Kelly is an enigma. Because she gave many conflicting stories, her background is largely unknown. She claims it was through a cousin that she turned to prostitution, but whether this is true is dubious. She worked in the West End in a high class brothel, which would require connections. She seems to have been educated at some time, as she was a skilled artist, singer and a scholar. She was treated as a lady in the West End and owned several expensive gowns and trinkets. At some point, she met a man that convinced her to go to France, unfortunately, this an example of human trafficking. Young women are tricked to move overseas for work or promises of care, only to end up in a brothel, guarded and beaten.
Mary managed to escape after two weeks and fled to the East End. Given that her madame in the West End had been complicit in the human trafficking, she could not return to her prior residence. It's likely she changed her name to Mary Kelly, so that she could be lost in the East End. The traffickers searched for her, but with a different name, she was difficult to find. She took up prostitution again, this time focusing on the docks. Mary attempted to reclaim her possessions from her madame, but her things were already gone. The result instead was that the traffickers had managed to find her trail. One searched for her, calling himself her "father". Mary managed to elude them, but understood she needed protection.
She took up with a man named Joseph Fleming, a kind bricklayer. He loved her enough to want to marry her, but the pair eventually broke up. Joseph, while good hearted, was a coward and Mary, needing someone to protect her, wanted someone better suited for the job. She found another Joseph, this time Joseph Barnett (known as "Joe"). He was strict with her, keeping her under his watch and refusing to allow her to work. In 1888, he lost his job, leading to increased altercations between him and Mary. She was stuck, controlled by a man with growing anger and violence, but also searched for by the traffickers from France.
Her only escape was her female friends, one of whom was Annie Chapman. Unfortunately, she was the second victim of Jack the Ripper. Her death hit Mary hard. In an effort to keep Annie with her somehow, she searched for her background and family. Slowly, she became curious about the other victims as well. Armed with her lies and manipulation, she managed to wheedle out information from families and friends. She was entranced with the women Jack claimed, seeing herself in each of them. The more she learned of them, the more her courage and strength grew.
She took up prostitution again, deciding to provide for herself. After one last fight with Joseph (where he broke the window in his rage), Mary kicked him out. More and more, she became excited for the chance to change her life and go somewhere, anywhere she pleased. The novel ends on that bright note, the ghosts from her past finally settled and the women that died before her walking alongside her.
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