whitechapel whitechapel this is exile
A new suspect for the role of Jack the Ripper - in his own words. This manuscript was found in papers belonging to Hulme Beauman, the creator of the radio series Toytown and Larry the Lamb, by Alan Hicken. It is written by a man called James Carnac and is an account of his life, including the period when he became the murderer known to posterity as ‘Jack the Ripper’. Ultimately it is up to the reader to decide. Is this a piece of fiction? If so it has to be one of the very earliest imaginings of the Ripper case, written in the early years of the twentieth century and a fascinating piece of period writing. However, is it non-fiction? There is information in this book that does not appear to be derived from contemporary newspapers or any other publications and the descriptions of Tottenham in the 1870s, the visits to performances of Jekyll and Hyde, the intricate geography of Whitechapel in 1888 are written with pin-point accuracy. There is also a credible motive given for James becoming the murderer Jack and also a reason for the end of the murders. Given the fact that the author also appear to have knowledge about aspects of the case not in the public arena at the time it could be that this actually is the autobiography of Jack the Ripper. The narrative has been judged by Ripperologist Paul Begg to be ‘based on a bare-bones account by someone who was there, was at least a witness to the scenes of the murders and, without wishing to be over dramatic, who was potentially the perpetrator of the Jack the Ripper murders. On the face of it, this is without question a text that will be the subject of considerable interest and will no doubt be debated for years to come.’
