Diamond Doris

Today's post is on Diamond Doris by Coris Payne and Zelda Lockhart. It is 265 pages long and is published by Amistad publishing. The cover is a picture of Doris. The intended reader is someone who likes memoirs and true crime. There is foul language, discussion of sex and sexuality, and some mild violence in this memoir. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- Growing up during the Depression in the segregated coal- mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, the bright and willful Doris Paine dreamed big. Fascinated by the fine clothes, jewels, and lifestyles in magazines such as Town & Country and Harper’s Bazaar, she imagined a world beyond herself, one in which she did not  carry the weight of limitations that others imposed on her and where her beloved mother was free from her father’ s abuse.
After the owner of a local store threw her out when a white customer arrived, Doris vowed that neither her race or gender would hold her back. She was going to control her own life and make her own money.
Using her Southern charm and quick wit, she began shoplifting small princess of jewelry from local stores, and over the course of six decades, grew her talents with each heist. As a world-class expert jewel thief, she daringly pulled off numerous diamond robberies, using nuns and various ruses to help her avoid arrest while her Jewish boyfriend fenced the stolen gems.

A rip-roaringly fun and exciting tale, Diamond Doris is the portrait of a captivating antihero who experienced life to the fullest- on her own terms.

Review- A fascinating memoir from the woman who lived it herself. Doris tells the reader her life story from her earliest memories to near present day. We travel with Doris from the first time she realized that she could use people’s prejudices against them to her living her life free in Atlanta. She tells her story without too much editing herself or what she did or why she did it. I really like Doris and I liked traveling with her around the world stealing jewels. I worried for her when she did a big job and I was relieved every time she made it home. Doris was/is not a good person but she was/is an incredible one. 

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.