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thisislauraw 's review for:

Poor Girls by Clare Whitfield
4.0
adventurous fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

WWI has ended and Eleanor, who spent the war working in a munitions factory, finds herself facing a life she doesn’t want. She’s waitressing in a hotel, with little to look forward to besides a life of menial service jobs or marriage.

Life changes when Eleanor finds herself swept up into the Forty Elephants, a network of female thieves in London.

The pacing is fast, the characters are well written, and I enjoyed Eleanor’s transformation from meek(ish) waitress to bold thief. The descriptions of the girls’ tricks and how they ran their operation were interesting, and the plot was gripping.

I had no idea until the afterword that the Forty Elephants were a real gang and some of the book’s characters were real people. That brought a whole new element to the book.

I flew through Poor Girls, didn’t want to put it down. Oh, and I’ve learned a new use for Fisherman’s Friends…

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.