Last Tuesday I was kindly offered the opportunity to go and see historian and author Hallie Rubenhold talk about her work at the gorgeous St Martin-in-the-Fields in London.
This was all part of a series of talks called The Conversation 2026 where different very interesting people are invited to talk about their life and work and you can be in the audience, either in person or via live stream from your sofa.
I took my mum, who hadn’t read any of Hallie’s books before but was very interested in how she reframes the cases she writes about so that the women, who are often the victim, are the main character, not the killer, who is usually a man.
In the case of Story of a Murder, the victim is Belle Elmore, a music hall performer, by her husband Dr Crippen, who buried her in the cellar of their London home and then took off with his mistress, Ethel.
Hallie brings their world to life in her book, creating a wonderful sense of time and place, exploring why the police were so reluctant to believe anything was wrong, despite how often Belle’s friends in The Music Hall Ladies’ Guild insisted it was. The Belle they knew wouldn’t just vanish to America without a word, as her husband claimed, she would have written. It is really shocking how long it took to get Scotland Yard to investigate, and it ended in a transatlantic race to catch Crippen and Ethel who were trying to escape to Canada.
It was really interesting hearing Hallie talk about how she goes about researching and learning about the cases, and how she reconstructs the events from often quite small comments in trial transcripts and newspaper reports. She never loses sight of the fact that these were real people and only quotes dialogue that is in the record.
Honestly I could have listened to her for hours, she was so fascinating, her work intriguing and important in re-centering women in history and not letting them end up sidelined in their own lives. Her most famous book, The Five, upset a lot of Ripperologists, because of the focus on his victims, and not who the killer might have been.
Both The Scandalous Lady W and The Covent Garden Ladies have been adapted for TV (the Ladies as Harlots) and you can see why, the books are clever and full of fascinating details.
If you’re interested in seeing any of the other conversations, visit the link above to check out the upcoming dates and book your tickets.
The Conversation looks to answer the biggest questions of the day from social justice to the climate crisis and from what it means to be human to our role in society, aiming to challenge assumptions and narratives outside of the mainstream political news agenda. The Conversation brings together audiences to engage with ideas and opinions from across the academic, political and cultural spectrum, with the world’s leading thinkers, historians, environmentalists, scientists and authors.
St Martin’s-in-the-Field
Taking place on Tuesday nights from 27th January – 28th April 2026 with tickets at £15, The Conversation 2026 will tackle topics including gay rights with legendary gay author Armistead Maupin (Tales of the City) the role of AI and the state with journalist Carole Cadwalladr,climate change and the state of the nation withnovelist Ian McEwan (Atonement, Enduring Love), invisible women in history with Hallie Rubenhold(The Five, Story of a Murder) faith, religion and what it means to be human with Kate Bowler (Everything Happens for a Reason, Joyful Always) race and social justice in the USA and UK with Gary Younge (Dispatches from Diaspora, Pigeon Holed), the battle for modern America with historian Sarah Churchwell, decoding the science of gut health with world-renowned immunologist Daniel M. Davis (Immune, Self Defence) and fighting for the environment with Mya-Rose Craig (Birdgirl).
27th January: Britain’s leading living novelist Ian McEwan will discuss the moral consequences of global climate catastrophe, a theme in his new speculative fiction novel What We Can Know, set in a future England devastated by the aftermath of AI-led nuclear wars between world powers, that leads to climate devastation.
3rd February: Winner of the Orwell Prize for Journalism in 2023, professor of sociology at University of Manchester and Formerly Editor at Large at The Guardian Gary Younge, one of Britain’s leading experts on race in America, will discuss his new book Pigeonholed a powerful reflection on race, racism and creativity in the UK today. In the first of several conversations marking the 250th anniversary of America Independence, the writer and journalist analyses the state of the union and the question of race in USA 2026.
10th February: Iconic LGBTQ+ author Armistead Maupin will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his legendary book Tales of the City the first book (and later a TV series) that addressed homophobia and transphobia with wit and compassion, helping to dismantle barriers and bring the LGBTQ+ experience into mainstream dialogue. The character of Anna Madrigal, the transgender landlady, was an early trans icon in popular fiction. The series provided millions of mainstream readers their first exposure to gay and straight characters coexisting as equals, dealing with universal themes of love, loneliness, and friendship. Named as one of the BBC’s 100 Most Inspiring Novels, a PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick and Britain’s favourite gay/lesbian novel from The Big Gay Read. Following on from the talk, The Conversation will also host a unique supper with the author and a signed copy of Maupin’s memoir Logical Family.
24th February: Author and Professor of American Literature, Sarah Churchwell discusses her Smithsonian book of the year, Behold, America: A History of America First and the American Dream, which overturns everything we thought we knew about the American dream, America First and the battle for the identity of modern America.
10th March: Multi-award-winning investigative journalist and co-founder of The Nerve, Carole Cadwalladr analyses the opaque and unaccountable Silicon Valley companies that are accelerating the global axis of autocracy in the How to Survive The Broligarchy Substack.
24th March: The #1 Sunday Times bestselling and Baillie Gifford prize-winning author of The Five, the Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, Hallie Rubenhold is a renowned social historian whose expertise lies in revealing stories of previously unknown women in history. Hallie will talk about re-balancing the narratives about gender and social justice in 19th century and 20th century London and her new book Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress and Dr Crippen.
7th April: Does orange juice help ward off colds? How does age, sleep and stress affect our immune health system? Is anything we’re sold as healthy actually true? What can we do to live a happier and healthier life? The world-renowned immunologist Daniel M. Davis sorts the facts from the fictions in his book Self-Defence: A Myth-busting Guide to Immune Health. Davis is Head of Life Sciences and Professor of Immunology at Imperial College, London.
21st April: Mya-Rose Craig known as BirdGirl shares her incredible journey as an activist, environmentalist, and keen birdwatcher. She also speaks passionately about founding her charity, Black2Nature, and her work to make the environmental sector more inclusive and representative for everyone. Mya-Rose’s story shows how personal passion can drive real change, and how young voices are shaping the future of green careers. Her 2023 Book BirdGirl was winner of a Somerset Maugham Award.
28th April: New York Times bestselling author, award-winning podcast host, and Professor of Religious History at Duke University, American Kate Bowler will talk about her new book Joyful Anyway (out April 2026) and about her experience battling stage IV cancer and how her outlook on pretty much everything she thought she knew about life was turned upside down.
ramblingmads 