Why read Gone Shopping?

Book cover of Gone Shopping: The Story of Shirley Pitts - Queen of Thieves

Book description

Voted one of The Guardian's top 10 best crime books of all time and one of the best true crime books ever written according to Stylist

Shirley Pitts, the eldest of six children was born upside down on 24 November 1934. Her 'career' began by thieving bread off doorsteps and…

Explore

Topics

Oral history

Genres

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Gone Shopping as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Caitlin Davies

Author

Stories of professional thieving by women are very rare, especially first-hand accounts, and so Gone Shopping is an unusual book. It tells the tale of Shirley Pitts, Queen of the Shoplifters, who was a career criminal for 50 years. Professor Lorraine Gamman based the book on years of oral recordings and her description of Shirley Pitts could apply to many other female crooks. She was "a woman in a man’s world who succeeded. She was not a victim, she had agency, she wanted more."

From Caitlin's list on The best books on female crooks.