IF YOU CAN'T MAKE THE RULES...

1922. Eleanor Mackridge is staring down the barrel of two equally depressing life choices – serving the upper classes or finding a husband – when she crosses paths with the notorious all-female gang, the Forty Elephants.

YOU MIGHT AS WELL BREAK THEM

These are women who society would rather forget. They are bold and vulgar, they steal diamonds and fur, drink champagne and gin. They give young women ideas above their station – and Eleanor wants in. Now she has the chance to make sure that history remembers her.

Because women don't have to marry or serve to get ahead.

They can steal.

In Poor Girls, Clare Whitfield exposes the criminal underbelly of 1920s London – but this isn't a morality tale, it's an adventure for the willingly wicked.

About the Author: 

Clare Whitfield is a UK-based writer. While studying for an MA in Creative & Critical Writing at the University of Winchester, her fiction appeared on Spelk, Commuter-Lit, Literary Orphans and in Matt Shaw’s Masters of Horror anthology. Poor Girls is Clare's third novel after People of Abandoned Character, which won the Goldsboro Glass Bell Award in 2021, and The Gone and The Forgotten.

What Our Reviewers Said:

"This is the best book I have read all year. I LOVED IT! I couldn't put this down, I listened to this and absolutely felt as though I was lifting in Oxford Street with them and shoving furs down my bloomers. I love the fierce sisterhood/friendship too."

"I loved witnessing Nell’s growth and her energy and making tough decisions, some of which may not have been the right ones but that makes the story relatable. This is 100% shortlist worthy and exactly what embodies the competition."

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