Mrs. Raffles: Being the Adventures of an Amateur Crackswoman

A sharp‑tongued narrator tells the story of a former partner of the legendary gentleman thief Raffles, now stranded in America after the war. With only a handful of copper coins and a wry sense of humor, she drifts from lecture halls on the Boer war to the bustling streets of New York, where even the smallest theft feels like a grand scheme. Her voice mixes genteel English manners with the rough practicality of an immigrant scraping by, turning each petty crime into a lesson in survival.

The book unfolds as a series of brisk, self‑aware escapades—from pilfering a hansom cab in a snow‑driven night to swapping coal for cash among the city’s poorest. Along the way she encounters eccentric socialites, baffled detectives, and a host of colorful settings such as Newport villas and a Carnegie library. Listeners will enjoy the witty commentary, the clever twists of everyday mischief, and the charming, if precarious, world of an amateur “crackswoman” navigating both high society and hard‑knocks.