Queenie Dove has been stealing since she was a child: she even stole her first name. Born in London's East End during the Depression, she learned to fend for herself when her mother was institutionalized. A group of women shoplifters known as the Green Bottles adopted Queenie as a protégée, pampering her with stolen goodies while they applauded her skills. Even when she got caught and sent to a girls' reform school, she escaped rather than repenting. After lying low for a while, she and her best friend, Stella, use their arsenal of tricks to fashion a glamorous life for themselves in postwar London. Although Queenie relishes the adventure of her lifestyle, becoming a mother finally compels her to go straight. But when she's offered one last (big) job, will she be able to resist?
Jill Dawson (Fred & Edie) creates a captivating voice for Queenie in Lucky Bunny: scrappy, matter-of-fact, unrepentant. Practical to a fault, she spends little time grieving for what might have been, but she does sometimes wonder if she could have had a different life. Was she born wicked, or did her childhood steer her toward the career she chose? Has fate helped shape her story, or has she built her life entirely through willpower and a taste for both glamour and danger?
Fast-paced and enthralling, Lucky Bunny provides a dark snapshot of life among London's working class, and a striking portrait of an unusual heroine and her sheer determination to not only survive, but thrive. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams