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The Forty Elephants

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The Forty Elephants

By: Erin Bledsoe
Narrated by: Hannah Curtis
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Peaky Blinders meets Ocean’s 8 in The Forty Elephants, an epic novel set in Roaring Twenties London, based on the real-life, all-female gang of the same name who specialized in crime as high art, targeting posh department stores and elites.

London in the 1920s is no place for a woman with a mind of her own. Gang wars, violence, and an unforgiving world have left pickpocket Alice Diamond scrambling to survive in the Mint, the gritty neighborhood her family has run for generations. When her father goes to jail yet again and her scam artist brother finds himself in debt to the dangerous McDonald crime syndicate, Alice takes over. Fighting for power at every turn, she struggles to protect her father’s territory and keep the people she loves safe from some of London’s most dangerous criminals.

Recruited by the enigmatic Mary Carr, Alice boldly chooses to break her father’s edict against gangs and become part of a group of notorious lady shoplifters, the Forty Elephants. Leaving the Mint behind, she and the other girls steal from the area’s poshest department stores, and for the first time in her life, Alice Diamond tastes success. But it’s not long before she wants more—no matter the cost. And when her past and present collide, there’s no escaping the girl from the Mint.

©2022 Erin Bledsoe (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing
Crime Crime Fiction Historical Fiction Fiction England Elephant
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A poorly written lacklustre novel based on true events. I cant help but feel that a non-fiction version would’ve been an improvement.

Disappointing

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...by the incessant Americanisms and sloppy historical research. Characters are engaging and dialogue is mostly realistic, although accents are a bit ropey in places.

A decent storyline ruined...

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Loved listening to it on audio. Whether totally true or not the basic story was based on fact of how hard working class women and men struggled to survive. Well told and I felt such affinity with the characters and their struggles and their losses. Highly recommend to all. A refreshingly different story in our own country. Five stars.

Excellent book.

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Thrilling ride all the way through.
Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Glamour and Riches
Suffering and Poverty

Loved it.

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It’s set in London and narrated by a south London gang member who refers to the pavement as a “side walk” a handbag as a “purse” etc…………soooo not acceptable. Surely American readers do not have to be pampered in this way and can work it out for themselves!!?? This creeping Americanisation of the British language is not acceptable and I stopped reading the book

I know that this book must be marketable internationally but…….

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