Poor Girls - Clare Whitfield - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Clare Whitfield

GENRE: Historical Crime Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: February 18, 2025

RATING: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A historical gangland fiction with an atypical feminist story. Inspired by the women of the Forty Elephants gang in 1920s London who were known for their shoplifting skills. Complex grey characters, fast-moving plot, great historical atmosphere. Much recommend to fans of historical crime.

Plot Preview:

1922. Brighton, England. Twenty-year-old Eleanor hates that the only two options she has to escape her cramped and financially-struggling family home is to marry someone good and kind, or to serve the upper classes. After getting a taste of independence working in a munitions factory during the war, she is struggling to return to the same old life of subjugation. So when she crosses paths with a member of the notorious Forty Elephants and sees what they can do – and more importantly, what they can earn – she suddenly sees a third option in her future: steal.

The story comes to us in Eleanor’s third-person perspective.

Most historical fiction novels don’t even look at the period between the two World Wars, an era so rich in technological changes, economic upheavals, and political movements. This book is a welcome entrant in the limited group of books exploring this period and the change in social mores, especially for women.

Bookish Yays:

🙆🏻 This fictional story was inspired by real women in The Forty Elephants, led by Queen Alice Diamond. This band of thieves was unknown to me, so it was interesting to learn about this gang and their modus operandi at a time when women were supposed to be the docile sex.

🙆🏻 Eleanor. She has shades of both a protagonist and an antagonist. Just because she isn't in a typical feminine role, don’t assume her to be smart. She takes quite naïve decisions at times, and often allows her emotions to dominate her decision-making. All this makes her an unusual but compelling historical fiction lead. Those who want a goody-goody or a likeable female lead won't enjoy her portrayal, but I found her grey character intriguing.

🙆🏻 The other female characters in the story, be it Eleanor’s family or her companions in the Forty Elephants group, are also well-defined. The latter women come from varied age groups and varied backgrounds, leading to an interesting motley crew.

🙆🏻 The title is quite ironic. You do see that the gang members are poor girls (in the financial sense) when they join in. You also learn the general struggles of poor girls (those belonging to less privileged families) in 1920s London. But once you notice the activities the Forty Elephants are involved in, and what Eleanor’s “cell” does in the final quarter of the book, their decisions make you wonder whether to root for or against such “poor girls.”

🙆🏻 The found family trope is quite well used in the book, as it doesn’t just stop at a group of disparate individuals coming together, but also explores the complications of having a close-knit friendship with those who rely on lies and deceit for their work. Can you trust such a “family”?

🙆🏻 The pacing of the book is mostly steady. Not exactly fast, but not dragged either.

🙆🏻 Showing the idea of feminism in a historical fiction is somewhat risky, as authors often put 21st century values into earlier century protagonists. But as this is partly based on real women, the feminist angle is quite convincing in depicting what happens when you give women a taste of freedom and higher employment during the war and then expect them to retreat quietly into their pre-war “womanly” roles at homes or in menial jobs. It was great to read a historical fiction novel with so many women who live life on their own terms.

🙆🏻 Other than feminism, the story also covers themes relevant to the era and the plotline such as class differences and gender biases. There are several reflections on human nature and on the varying requirements from men and women.

🙆🏻 While most of the plot is serious and/or emotional, there are also some funny scenes and witty lines to lighten the narrative.

🙆🏻 The historical atmosphere is fabulous. I loved how vividly the setting, both in location and in time period, came alive.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🤷🏻 Eleanor’s relationship with a particular male character gets frustrating at times. While this is still a realistic depiction of how many girls behave when they are in a relationship, the lack of corrective action from Eleanor’s side causes exasperation.

Bookish Nays:

🤦🏻 Almost all the male characters in the book are negative. The only exception is Eleanor’s father, who has only a limited role, and PC Bevan, who comes across as unrealistic. I wish there had been a better representation of the men so that even their arcs could have felt realistic.

🤦🏻 The language didn’t always suit the era. The dialogues and vocabulary seemed to be much more modern than the time setting. One word that was conspicuously anachronous was the word ‘misgender’: it wasn’t at all in use then. (I am also unsure if the hookah would be present in an underground club in 1920s London and if Eleanor would recognise one if she saw it, but I can allow this anomaly some benefit of doubt as I couldn’t find anything conclusive online.)

🤦🏻 I wish the book had preferred better time indicators. It gets tough to keep track of the time when there are so many events taking place. There are a couple of instances when the number of months that passed is mentioned, but the second half feels longer than it is in the novel.

🤦🏻 The final one-third seems to go off kilter in one particular incident. It is so gruesome and so unlike the rest of the plot in tone that I am not sure if it was the best plotting decision for this storyline. That scene brought down my overall reading experience to some extent, even though the ending was good.

🤦🏻 Personal choice, but I don’t like books that have multiple scenes of drugs and alcohol usage. These might be suited to the character at times, but in this book, I am not sure if the scenes were included only to prove the level of depravity of the character in question. They felt a bit forced.

All in all, while it does seem like I have a few too many complaints, I still enjoyed the book to a great extent. The medley of the themes, the setting, the main characters, and the real-life roots of the gang come together in a mostly winning combination. Had it not been for some uncomfortable scenes in the final section, my rating would have been higher.

Definitely recommended to those looking for a different kind of historical fiction with plenty of morally grey characters and a genuine feel of the darker side of the 1920s.

3.5 stars, rounding up wherever applicable as my Yays are quite hefty and the Nays are more due to personal preferences.

My thanks to Aria & Aries for providing the DRC of “Poor Girls” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.