Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Apologies to the Cat's Meat Man: A Novel of Annie Chapman, the Second Victim of Jack the Ripper” as Want to Read:
Apologies to the Cat's Meat Man: A Novel of Annie Chapman, the Second Victim of Jack the Ripper
(Jack the Ripper Victims Series #4)
by
This novel is part of the Jack the Ripper Victims Series. Each novel in the series is a stand-alone story.
Annie Chapman led a hard, lower class life in filthy 19th century London. Late in life, circumstances and and her choices led her to earn her crust by solicitation. After a bruising brawl with another woman over money and a man, she lost her lodgings and found herself ...more
Annie Chapman led a hard, lower class life in filthy 19th century London. Late in life, circumstances and and her choices led her to earn her crust by solicitation. After a bruising brawl with another woman over money and a man, she lost her lodgings and found herself ...more
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
Apologies to the Cat's Meat Man,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about Apologies to the Cat's Meat Man
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
Showing 1-39
Start your review of Apologies to the Cat's Meat Man: A Novel of Annie Chapman, the Second Victim of Jack the Ripper
The fourth book in the Jack the Ripper Victims Series, Apologies to the Cat’s Meat Man showcases Clark again infusing loads of humanity into an historical context. Annie Chapman’s story is told from a past and present narrative, her last week alive in contrast to a regrettable past. The flow between the two was smooth and coherent. There was a more dream-like quality to the life events and perspectives of the protagonist here when compared to the other books.
The reality of the ...more
The reality of the ...more
The second victim!
As with the first victim, young Annie was introduced to alcoholism and verbal abuse at a young age. It didn't take long for her life to fall apart. Prostitution seemed the only way to earn money for food and a bed. Unfortunately it was too often spent on liquor. She knew about the first murder but since she needed money, she had to walk the streets alone.
Superbly written, hard to put down story of hardship and poverty. ...more
As with the first victim, young Annie was introduced to alcoholism and verbal abuse at a young age. It didn't take long for her life to fall apart. Prostitution seemed the only way to earn money for food and a bed. Unfortunately it was too often spent on liquor. She knew about the first murder but since she needed money, she had to walk the streets alone.
Superbly written, hard to put down story of hardship and poverty. ...more
Although serial killers are not normally my thing, I've been reading these illustrated novels based on the lives of the victims of Jack the Ripper with interest. Rather than focus on the pathologies of Jack the Ripper's mind, and the goriness of his methods, this books put the spotlight on how his victims lived, and how and why they came to be walking the streets, easy prey for anyone who would attack them. "Apologies to the Cat's Meat Man" follows the life of Annie Chapman, the second victim.
Bo ...more
Bo ...more
Another delightful foray into 1800s London with Alan Clark and Jack the Ripper. Clark is one of my favorite writers, I have read many of his books and this is a third of his Ripper victim series I have completed. Clark does in this book what he did so well in his previous stories about Elizabeth Stride and Polly Nichols, he provides humanity to Annie Chapman, Jack The Ripper’s second victim. After reading three of the books in this series, some overarching themes emerge. The most remarkable is t
...more
The author didn’t paint victim 2, Annie, in a very good light. I didn’t find her likeable at all and found some things either very distressing or just eye-rolling. She was quite selfish, a lot more than Polly (she was sweet really) but Annie was a hardened, unlikeable character. I hope she was nicer in really life.
Loved the writing style, as with the first book I read (I’m reading them in victim order as it makes more sense) and found the old English written very on point and intriguing. The se ...more
Loved the writing style, as with the first book I read (I’m reading them in victim order as it makes more sense) and found the old English written very on point and intriguing. The se ...more
Apologies to the Cat's Meat Man: A Novel of Annie Chapman, the Second Victim of Jack the Ripper by Alan M. Clark takes the reader back in time to the crowded and dingy streets of Whitechapel. It is 1888 and for a few weeks a brutal killer is terrorizing the capital.
We follow the story of Annie Chapman made vivid by her background, her fears, her needs and her struggles to survive in a world where women do not have real freedom or rights.
The author's wise hand guides us in this world, using real ...more
We follow the story of Annie Chapman made vivid by her background, her fears, her needs and her struggles to survive in a world where women do not have real freedom or rights.
The author's wise hand guides us in this world, using real ...more
I used to think of Alan M. Clark as a painter that could write. After reading this harrowing account of the second Jack the Ripper victim, I now think of Alan M. Clark as a writer who can paint. This was even better than the first victim's book, A Brutal Chill In August (although each book are stories that stand alone, but could be read as a series). The pain, constant heartbreak, and details of living day to day in London in the 1880's was almost more than I could take. This social horror novel
...more
full review coming soon
Jul 31, 2017
Madelon
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Madelon by:
Alan Clark
There are a few things that have always made me stop and take notice: Sherlock Holmes, vampires, New Orleans, and Jack the Ripper. When in London, in 1999, for just a day, the must do things were the bookstores on Charing Cross Road, dinner at The Hard Rock Café and the Jack the Ripper Tour. One might even say that I am obsessive about these favorite things.
The narrator of APOLOGIES TO THE CATS MEAT MAN, Alicia Rose, is excellent. Her British accent sets the mood while the words remain clear and ...more
The narrator of APOLOGIES TO THE CATS MEAT MAN, Alicia Rose, is excellent. Her British accent sets the mood while the words remain clear and ...more
Alan Clark has taken on the voices of the dead in his books about Jack the Ripper's victims. In this, his story of Annie Chapman, the author manages to infuse her life with a tension that permeates both her joys and her sorrows. It's a very human story, one that reveals Annie as a woman who fate has smiled upon but more often frowned at. She is a victim of the Ripper, a victim of society, and a victim of the thoughtless acts of those around her who are hardly aware of her and yet are all too wil
...more
Please note these are works of historical fiction based upon the lives of the women who he became victims of Jack the Ripper and are not about the actual killings.
Apologiesto the Cats Meat Man is the second book in the Jack the Ripper victim series. This time we join the second victim of Jack the Ripper Annie Chapman in the final week of her life. Unlike the first book, the story navigates between her past and her present. However, this does not make it any less interesting. Annie comes across a ...more
Apologiesto the Cats Meat Man is the second book in the Jack the Ripper victim series. This time we join the second victim of Jack the Ripper Annie Chapman in the final week of her life. Unlike the first book, the story navigates between her past and her present. However, this does not make it any less interesting. Annie comes across a ...more
Amazing!
Apologies to the Cat's Meat Man tells the story of Annie Chapman, the second victim of Jack the Ripper.
As with the previous books in the series, Alan M. Clark sets aside the motives, methods, and identity of the notorious killer, in favour of focusing on the trials and tribulations of the lives of his of his victims.
Clark has written an account of London's lower class, that is full of heart-breaking empathy and compassion. And his understanding of the difficulties of the time, and why br ...more
Apologies to the Cat's Meat Man tells the story of Annie Chapman, the second victim of Jack the Ripper.
As with the previous books in the series, Alan M. Clark sets aside the motives, methods, and identity of the notorious killer, in favour of focusing on the trials and tribulations of the lives of his of his victims.
Clark has written an account of London's lower class, that is full of heart-breaking empathy and compassion. And his understanding of the difficulties of the time, and why br ...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers also enjoyed
Author and illustrator, Alan M. Clark grew up in Tennessee in a house full of bones and old medical books. His awards include the World Fantasy Award and four Chesley Awards. He is the author of seventeen books, including twelve novels, a couple of novellas, four collections of fiction, some of them lavishly illustrated, and a nonfiction full-color book of his artwork. Mr. Clark's company, IFD Pub
...more
Other books in the series
Jack the Ripper Victims Series
(6 books)
News & Interviews
Melissa Albert burst onto the YA scene (and catapulted into readers' hearts) with her 2018 debut The Hazel Wood. This darkly fantastical...
69 likes · 3 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
