The Forty Elephants

While her father is in jail, Alice Diamond takes on the 1920s gangsters and street wars of London with violent abandon. Alice is tough, both mentally and physically, and she will not hesitate to kill those that cross her or her family. Running the streets of the Mint, Alice has the neighborhood's poor behind her. But the luxurious lifestyle of the gangster is becoming more appealing. When Alice's brother Tommy steals from the wrong people, Alice must go against her beliefs and join London's most notorious female gang, the Forty Elephants. She plans on joining only long enough to pay her brother's debt and then get back to leading the Mint. Alice gets in deeper than she planned, though, and the entire operation almost blows up in her face. But Alice has bigger plans for herself and her fellow female thieves. Alice is a protagonist with her fair share of vices, but readers will find themselves rooting for her from the edge of their seats, waiting to see if she and her friends can pull off their biggest job yet.

Bledsoe's impressive debut draws on the true story of an all-female gang of thieves that operated in London from the late 19th century until the 1950s. Alice Diamond supports her family in 1920 by working two jobs. By day, she's a maid in the household of actor Pearl King, and by night, she serves cocktails at the 43 Club. Both positions are covers for larceny; Diamond is scheming to break into the Kings' safe, and she uses her looks to distract patrons of the club while she picks their pockets. Her life changes when her former best friend, Maggie Hill, shows up at the club, and the Forty Elephants, a theft ring comprising entirely women and which counts Maggie as a member, invites Diamond to join. She refuses, despite their promise of steady work and income, until her ne'er-do-well brother, Tommy, runs afoul of the vicious McDonald brothers, whom he stole from to get the funds to bribe a judge to spring Diamond and Tommy's father from prison. Diamond then joins the Forty Elephants, ostensibly on a temporary basis to help Tommy, while also trying to rescue Pearl from her abusive spouse. Bledsoe evokes the feel of the mean streets of London, and the desperation of those living there. Fans of intelligent historical fiction will be eager to see what Bledsoe does next. Agent: Carrie Pestritto, Laura Dail Literary. (Aug.)