This book is very much about family dynamics within a rather unusual family. It has a really good ending, and without saying too much all I mean is that it is one of those books that finishes and feels properly finished as it’s wrapped nicely.

The author to a degree has based this book on the Great Smog that descended London in 1952 for four and a half days. This must have been such an oppressive depressing time and the author beautifully brings this across in her descriptive writing.

The author also read a lot of anecdotal accounts, journalism pieces and various other books on the Great Smog together with books on known gangs that operated during this time. These well researched ideas have all come together to produce in my opinion a thoroughly entertaining read.

The story is set in London in 1952 and set around the "real" great smog when London was hit with impenetrable fog for a period of time,

Ruby, the Queen of the Cutters is waiting to get released from Holloway Prison and her daughter Florrie is wanting a different life and she's not sure how her mum will take it. She's got a boy, her second cousin Ted and wants to go on the straight and narrow.

The Cutters, are an all female shoplifting gang with very strong characters including Maggie & Ada, who've shared the same man. The characters and scenes are absolutely captivating - you can imagine yourself there. With the post war houses, WWII bomb sites and cafe's selling stale cakes and weak tea (and dare I say it, out and about with the girls!)

They do get themselves into many a scrape and cousin Nell, who proves herself to be a "Palmer" through and through but not through choice but circumstance. I adored especially Florrie and Nell. An absolute triumph of a book which I adored.