1922. Twenty-four-year-old Eleanor Mackridge is horrified by the future mapped out for her – to serve the upper classes or find a husband.

During the war, she found freedom in joining the workforce at home, but now women are being put back in their place.

Until Eleanor crosses paths with a member of the notorious female-led gang the Forty Elephants: bold women who wear diamonds and fur, drink champagne and gin, who take what they want without asking. Now, she sees a new future for herself: she can serve, marry – or steal. After all, men will only let you down.

Diamonds are forever. 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.