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Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief
In the ebullient spirit of Ocean’s 8, The Heist, and Thelma & Louise, a sensational and entertaining memoir of the world’s most notorious jewel thief—a woman who defied society’s prejudices and norms to carve her own path, stealing from elite jewelers to live her dreams.
Growing up during the Depression in the segregated coal town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, Doris Payne was told her dreams were unattainable for poor black girls like her. Surrounded by people who sought to limit her potential, Doris vowed to turn the tables after the owner of a jewelry store threw her out when a white customer arrived. Neither racism nor poverty would hold her back; she would get what she wanted and help her mother escape an abusive relationship.
Using her southern charm, quick wit, and fascination with magic as her tools, Payne began shoplifting small pieces of jewelry from local stores. Over the course of six decades, her talents grew with each heist. Becoming an expert world-class jewel thief, she daringly pulled off numerous diamond robberies and her Jewish boyfriend fenced the stolen gems to Hollywood celebrities.
Doris’s criminal exploits went unsolved well into the 1970s—partly because the stores did not want to admit that they were duped by a black woman. Eventually realizing Doris was using him, her boyfriend turned her in. She was arrested after stealing a diamond ring in Monte Carlo that was valued at more than half a million dollars. But even prison couldn’t contain this larger-than-life personality who cleverly used nuns as well as various ruses to help her break out. With her arrest in 2013 in San Diego, Doris’s fame skyrocketed when media coverage of her astonishing escapades exploded.
Today, at eighty-seven, Doris, as bold and vibrant as ever, lives in Atlanta, and is celebrated for her glamorous legacy. She sums up her adventurous career best: “It beat being a teacher or a maid.� A rip-roaringly fun and exciting story as captivating and audacious as Catch Me if You Can and Can You Ever Forgive Me?—Diamond Doris is the portrait of a captivating anti-hero who refused to be defined by the prejudices and mores of a hypocritical society.
Diamond Doris features 20-30 color photographs.
Growing up during the Depression in the segregated coal town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, Doris Payne was told her dreams were unattainable for poor black girls like her. Surrounded by people who sought to limit her potential, Doris vowed to turn the tables after the owner of a jewelry store threw her out when a white customer arrived. Neither racism nor poverty would hold her back; she would get what she wanted and help her mother escape an abusive relationship.
Using her southern charm, quick wit, and fascination with magic as her tools, Payne began shoplifting small pieces of jewelry from local stores. Over the course of six decades, her talents grew with each heist. Becoming an expert world-class jewel thief, she daringly pulled off numerous diamond robberies and her Jewish boyfriend fenced the stolen gems to Hollywood celebrities.
Doris’s criminal exploits went unsolved well into the 1970s—partly because the stores did not want to admit that they were duped by a black woman. Eventually realizing Doris was using him, her boyfriend turned her in. She was arrested after stealing a diamond ring in Monte Carlo that was valued at more than half a million dollars. But even prison couldn’t contain this larger-than-life personality who cleverly used nuns as well as various ruses to help her break out. With her arrest in 2013 in San Diego, Doris’s fame skyrocketed when media coverage of her astonishing escapades exploded.
Today, at eighty-seven, Doris, as bold and vibrant as ever, lives in Atlanta, and is celebrated for her glamorous legacy. She sums up her adventurous career best: “It beat being a teacher or a maid.� A rip-roaringly fun and exciting story as captivating and audacious as Catch Me if You Can and Can You Ever Forgive Me?—Diamond Doris is the portrait of a captivating anti-hero who refused to be defined by the prejudices and mores of a hypocritical society.
Diamond Doris features 20-30 color photographs.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published September 10, 2019
442 people are currently reading
5,166 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 371 reviews
June 23, 2023
Now here's an incredible and remarkable story! 10 of 10 stars!
July 12, 2022
Great book. Reads like a rollercoaster. How this lady did this and had little jail time is incredible.
February 7, 2020
This was found on a library "new" shelf and sounded intriguing.
Now just after finishing this quick read- I can't say it was. It was rather interesting and a peculiar type of detailed display of a personality disorder. But it was not written well, especially within chronological continuity, but also in the word play too. I am rather shocked by the ratings here.
And it isn't the dialect or the tone of the dialogue either. It's voids. And it's lack of complete progressions. You KNOW why and you KNOW why again (her family abuse etc. plus her constant fixation on protecting her mother)- but you really don't know much else.
Doris never marries, and she has good reasons to make that decision. And her life is all in segments of place and identity. Many times often differing to non-recognition for/by people in those segments. So I do "hear" that it would have been difficult to tell this well. But she needed to get better help, or a more savvy ghost writer. This is just plain vague in great portions. Hoping and jumping to places too. Other than the thieving skills, I don't think you get much of Doris pure except for the narcissism and gem appreciation/ stealing aspect.
What did blare out at me was her thinking processes. Especially her "fair" equivalents and also her lack of any remorse. Overall, her "good" or "worthy" is so off that I ended up feeling she was pathetic overall. This is an example of a cognition that got set super early by events observed and stayed within a world view or objective concern forever "after" childhood. Personality disorders that solidified early to this extreme degree are actually more rare than not. Certainly this particular type is. She would never, ever get away with 2/3rds of her ploys now as she did in the last century. Too many cameras and also much more knowledge about the "con". Especially in the fields and peoples' cultures she hit the most over the decades of self-enriching.
I would not recommend this book. Also beware that it contains physical abuse and reaction that is physical abuse. Throwing a pot of boiling matter on someone's back is not as trivial as she posited here either. These readers forgive Doris nearly anything. Maybe for her verve and style?
Now just after finishing this quick read- I can't say it was. It was rather interesting and a peculiar type of detailed display of a personality disorder. But it was not written well, especially within chronological continuity, but also in the word play too. I am rather shocked by the ratings here.
And it isn't the dialect or the tone of the dialogue either. It's voids. And it's lack of complete progressions. You KNOW why and you KNOW why again (her family abuse etc. plus her constant fixation on protecting her mother)- but you really don't know much else.
Doris never marries, and she has good reasons to make that decision. And her life is all in segments of place and identity. Many times often differing to non-recognition for/by people in those segments. So I do "hear" that it would have been difficult to tell this well. But she needed to get better help, or a more savvy ghost writer. This is just plain vague in great portions. Hoping and jumping to places too. Other than the thieving skills, I don't think you get much of Doris pure except for the narcissism and gem appreciation/ stealing aspect.
What did blare out at me was her thinking processes. Especially her "fair" equivalents and also her lack of any remorse. Overall, her "good" or "worthy" is so off that I ended up feeling she was pathetic overall. This is an example of a cognition that got set super early by events observed and stayed within a world view or objective concern forever "after" childhood. Personality disorders that solidified early to this extreme degree are actually more rare than not. Certainly this particular type is. She would never, ever get away with 2/3rds of her ploys now as she did in the last century. Too many cameras and also much more knowledge about the "con". Especially in the fields and peoples' cultures she hit the most over the decades of self-enriching.
I would not recommend this book. Also beware that it contains physical abuse and reaction that is physical abuse. Throwing a pot of boiling matter on someone's back is not as trivial as she posited here either. These readers forgive Doris nearly anything. Maybe for her verve and style?
August 20, 2019
This will be one of the most entertaining memoirs you ever read! I could not put this down.
This book is divided into 4 parts:
Color: It’s fascinating how childhood and media can shape how we view ourselves and what decisions we make. Representation matters!
Clarity: Doris realized she had the communication skills necessary to make store clerks forget they gave her jewelry to try on. Confusion and familiarity.
Cut: The Cartier heist! She breaks down the history and process of how diamonds get to jewelers as she takes you through the story of her 3 day heist in Europe. She had me on edge not knowing if she would get caught.
Carat: The weight of it all. Doris is older and life is catching up to her. People close to her are inevitably dying. Technology has advanced and she can no longer fool the police.
This book is divided into 4 parts:
Color: It’s fascinating how childhood and media can shape how we view ourselves and what decisions we make. Representation matters!
Clarity: Doris realized she had the communication skills necessary to make store clerks forget they gave her jewelry to try on. Confusion and familiarity.
Cut: The Cartier heist! She breaks down the history and process of how diamonds get to jewelers as she takes you through the story of her 3 day heist in Europe. She had me on edge not knowing if she would get caught.
Carat: The weight of it all. Doris is older and life is catching up to her. People close to her are inevitably dying. Technology has advanced and she can no longer fool the police.
October 2, 2019
I had never heard of Doris Payne the notorious life-long jewel thief until I just happened to spot this at the library. She's a fascinating woman that's for sure. If you liked Ocean's, you're going to have to pick up this memoir. I have to say that I'm looking forward to the movie of her life featuring Tessa Thompson as Doris.
January 20, 2020
2.5. And that may be generous. The story line keeps you interested, but it ends leaving you flat.
I love memoirs, but this is one of my least favorites. The best part was a book discussion with 2 friends who read it right before I did.
I enjoyed her ‘yarn� storytelling, and her independence, Confidence, determination came across quite strong.
She is a jewel thief, a very proud criminal. Eventually Doris crossed her own line and got involved with cocaine, so now more people, children, are hurt by her actions....she justified this because she had her mom's medical bills to pay (I was happy that it seemed her mom did find a good honest man who truly loved her), but she did the same as those who stole from Mother Africa..... so what is the lesson? An eye for an eye? I think, maybe I'm wrong, that she used that line of thinking as she aged to help justify her unjustifiable chosen lifestyle, and didn't really care about anyone other than herself - and her mama. Nothing in her story even gives and inkling to anything she ever did outside of taking care of herself...... to me that is a sad life.
Quite sad. She was deeply connected to her mom, but it seems wasn't able to duplicate that love and sacrifice with her own daughter or son. Never shows, or at least didn't share, any remorse for being an absentee mother. One who chose s life of crime so she could pretend to be what she wasn’t. In the end her life shows that she was more like her father than her mother....
She's been to glorious places, lived parts of her life as a 'famous' pampered woman, is still quite attractive and charming and fun.... but empty, all hollow, she has nothing. A life of pretending. Is there any lesson or intrinsic gift she has given to her children or anyone?
I wonder IF her life would have taken a different turn had her father had been a decent man..... posssibly, but not sure.
I love memoirs, but this is one of my least favorites. The best part was a book discussion with 2 friends who read it right before I did.
I enjoyed her ‘yarn� storytelling, and her independence, Confidence, determination came across quite strong.
She is a jewel thief, a very proud criminal. Eventually Doris crossed her own line and got involved with cocaine, so now more people, children, are hurt by her actions....she justified this because she had her mom's medical bills to pay (I was happy that it seemed her mom did find a good honest man who truly loved her), but she did the same as those who stole from Mother Africa..... so what is the lesson? An eye for an eye? I think, maybe I'm wrong, that she used that line of thinking as she aged to help justify her unjustifiable chosen lifestyle, and didn't really care about anyone other than herself - and her mama. Nothing in her story even gives and inkling to anything she ever did outside of taking care of herself...... to me that is a sad life.
Quite sad. She was deeply connected to her mom, but it seems wasn't able to duplicate that love and sacrifice with her own daughter or son. Never shows, or at least didn't share, any remorse for being an absentee mother. One who chose s life of crime so she could pretend to be what she wasn’t. In the end her life shows that she was more like her father than her mother....
She's been to glorious places, lived parts of her life as a 'famous' pampered woman, is still quite attractive and charming and fun.... but empty, all hollow, she has nothing. A life of pretending. Is there any lesson or intrinsic gift she has given to her children or anyone?
I wonder IF her life would have taken a different turn had her father had been a decent man..... posssibly, but not sure.
June 27, 2020
I absolutely adore Doris Payne. ADORE. This is her story of growing up the daughter of a coal-miner who was abusive to her mother, and how, from a young age, she just decided she was going to be a jewel thief. And then made a literal lifelong career with her con of walking into jewelry stores all over the world and walking back out with at least one jewel. Some of the stories in here (her fight with a cow; what she did after not understanding what sex was as a child) are ridiculously hilarious. She’s smart, cunning, unapologetic, brave, and literally was arrested with her stolen jewel on her, and they couldn’t figure out how to charge her because they couldn’t find it!
I highly recommend the audiobook, narrated by Robin Miles, which really makes you feel as if you’re at lunch with Payne as she recounts her life for you. Also, someone needs to make this a film!
(TW domestic abuse/ elder abuse)
--from newsletter:
I highly recommend the audiobook, narrated by Robin Miles, which really makes you feel as if you’re at lunch with Payne as she recounts her life for you. Also, someone needs to make this a film!
(TW domestic abuse/ elder abuse)
--from newsletter:
January 17, 2021
Absolutely fascinating. So glad I got to know about Doris Payne's intense, stressful, and exciting life. It was hard to put down. After I finished, I realized that Doris Payne's voice is far more important than I would have realized when first starting to read about her life. Each time she related her experience, and her unapologetic attitude that went along with each experience, I really had to think carefully about why she should or should not be sorry for taking what she could get away with. I wish she had been able to give more detail about how society was structured, and how that affected her life choices, but there is already plenty that she did include that speaks to that. I can see why they turned Dori's life into a movie. Now, I just have to find a way to watch it.
October 5, 2019
A riveting read by a Black woman who became the world's most wanted diamond thief. I was intrigued by her justification for stealing diamonds (that they had initially been stolen from Africa just as her people had been stolen from Africa), but I did wonder if that was her rationale at the time or if this was something that came to her in hindsight.
I also loved reading about her unconventional relationships, first with Babe (the married Jewish man who fenced her diamonds) and then her 25-year relationship with Kenneth who resigned himself to never being allowed to spend the night at her house, but would send his grown daughter to Europe to help Doris get out of police jams.
I also loved reading about her unconventional relationships, first with Babe (the married Jewish man who fenced her diamonds) and then her 25-year relationship with Kenneth who resigned himself to never being allowed to spend the night at her house, but would send his grown daughter to Europe to help Doris get out of police jams.
December 27, 2020
This was epic, go Doris! I want all the heist movies about her story now, pls.
April 12, 2020
This book was fascinating. I don’t know how Ms. Doris was able to live her life the way she did. That took a lot of guts.
November 29, 2019
I have never heard of Doris Payne before coming across this book on Hoopla. The cover with a black woman that said "the true story of the world's most notorious jewel thief" was all I needed to see to peak my interest. So I searched for it at my local library and checked out the book.
This book is the story of Doris Payne, who grew up in Slab-fork, West Virginia, the daughter of a coal-miner. Doris tells her story growing up poor with a father that abuses her mother. Her love for her mother and her belief of a better life, lead her to aspire to finding a way to get her and her mother out of Slab-fork. She discovers her "gift" of distracting people so that she can take what she wants and uses it to finance her plans to live a different life with her mother. I found this story so engaging. I was impressed with how much research and preperations Doris made for each heist. She was not a petty thief by any means. I found out that there was a documentary made but I believe that it was unauthorized. So I will wait for the the movie and hope that it does get her sign off before watching it. This is another example of why books are so wonderful, that this story that I have heard nothing of, should come to light. Read it!
This book is the story of Doris Payne, who grew up in Slab-fork, West Virginia, the daughter of a coal-miner. Doris tells her story growing up poor with a father that abuses her mother. Her love for her mother and her belief of a better life, lead her to aspire to finding a way to get her and her mother out of Slab-fork. She discovers her "gift" of distracting people so that she can take what she wants and uses it to finance her plans to live a different life with her mother. I found this story so engaging. I was impressed with how much research and preperations Doris made for each heist. She was not a petty thief by any means. I found out that there was a documentary made but I believe that it was unauthorized. So I will wait for the the movie and hope that it does get her sign off before watching it. This is another example of why books are so wonderful, that this story that I have heard nothing of, should come to light. Read it!
September 27, 2019
Doris Payne is a baaaaad b!tch.
She grew up in West Virginia, the daughter of a wife-beating coal miner. She decided at an early age that no man was gonna control her. She also decided she wanted a life of travel and fine things. She fell into a life of jewelry theft and fencing (though when you're dealing with big ticket items, you "resell" it, it's not fencing). She got caught a few times but served very little time in prisons. Doris never forgot where she came from, and always took care of her mama.
Recommended for a fast, fun read.
She grew up in West Virginia, the daughter of a wife-beating coal miner. She decided at an early age that no man was gonna control her. She also decided she wanted a life of travel and fine things. She fell into a life of jewelry theft and fencing (though when you're dealing with big ticket items, you "resell" it, it's not fencing). She got caught a few times but served very little time in prisons. Doris never forgot where she came from, and always took care of her mama.
Recommended for a fast, fun read.
March 11, 2020
Hell fucking yes.
That's it, that's the review.
But, honestly, I loved this because it's unapologetic, honest, and occasionally brutal.
That's it, that's the review.
But, honestly, I loved this because it's unapologetic, honest, and occasionally brutal.
September 23, 2019
Diamond Doris is a true crime memoir. I do believe her to be an unreliable narrator, so I took a lot of what she said with a grain of salt.
I do not question that Doris had a horrific upbringing and childhood. Her father was controlling and abusive. Doris made a choice at a young age and decided that she would not be dependent on a man to support her. I do not condone how Doris chose to support herself, but I am fascinated with her story. She has a big ego and does not seem to have any remorse for what she did. For how smart she is, I wonder if she would have been able to put those smarts to better use? I can not pretend to understand what her world and circumstances were like.
Doris was born in 1930 at the beginning of The Great Depression and before WWII. I do not believe that Doris would have been able to get away with her thefts if she had been born in another era. She was able to create her persona, travel, steal, and get away before communication of the crime could spread. She was caught numerous times, but was able to talk or pay her way out of it. If she couldn't get out of it, she served minimal time. She was wanted by Interpol, the FBI, and numerous other policing entities. Most of her crimes have surpassed the statute of limitations for charges.
It should be noted, according to the Orange County Register, Doris has said "a book deal will help her financially".
I listened to the audio version of this book and Robin Miles is an amazing narrator!
I do not question that Doris had a horrific upbringing and childhood. Her father was controlling and abusive. Doris made a choice at a young age and decided that she would not be dependent on a man to support her. I do not condone how Doris chose to support herself, but I am fascinated with her story. She has a big ego and does not seem to have any remorse for what she did. For how smart she is, I wonder if she would have been able to put those smarts to better use? I can not pretend to understand what her world and circumstances were like.
Doris was born in 1930 at the beginning of The Great Depression and before WWII. I do not believe that Doris would have been able to get away with her thefts if she had been born in another era. She was able to create her persona, travel, steal, and get away before communication of the crime could spread. She was caught numerous times, but was able to talk or pay her way out of it. If she couldn't get out of it, she served minimal time. She was wanted by Interpol, the FBI, and numerous other policing entities. Most of her crimes have surpassed the statute of limitations for charges.
It should be noted, according to the Orange County Register, Doris has said "a book deal will help her financially".
I listened to the audio version of this book and Robin Miles is an amazing narrator!
September 3, 2019
Doris Paker was an international jewel thief. With the assistance of Zelda Lockhart she tells her life's story. The quality of writing varies with the autobiography part reading like it was writtrn by someone with a very limited education while the sidebars regarding the quality of diamonds is much better written. Diamond Doris gives a detailed look into the mind of a person who has chosen a life of crime This was a free proof copy obtained through Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.com.
October 26, 2020
2.5 I was expecting to learn more about her capers and misadventures. I guess the logistics of it all. This had more to do with behavioral patterns and relationships surrounding the heists.
I watched a documentary on Ms. Doris and it recreated and highlighted some of the crimes she committed in the U.S. and abroad. It included audio-visual soundbites of her reflecting on her heists and subsequent imprisonment. I was expecting something similar with more details about the planning, getaways, and loot in this book.
Love the cover and title.
I watched a documentary on Ms. Doris and it recreated and highlighted some of the crimes she committed in the U.S. and abroad. It included audio-visual soundbites of her reflecting on her heists and subsequent imprisonment. I was expecting something similar with more details about the planning, getaways, and loot in this book.
Love the cover and title.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2022
More like a 3.5. I once read that you should make sure you are ready to be transparent when publishing your story. I could not help to feel like something was missing throughout the book. I enjoyed the story overall and its potential.
July 29, 2020
I had never heard of Doris Payne before reading this book, but she has one hell of a story to tell. Her voice is so strong that I feel I know her after reading her story. This is a very quick, very enjoyable read.
February 11, 2020
Absolutely mind blowing! From city to city, state to state , country to country this woman had a remarkable way of making a living. Stealing pricey jewels was her life long career. How she managed to connive, escape authorities, get out of dodge in different countries was just incredible. especially for that timeframe in which she started doing this.
September 20, 2019
I enjoyed reading about Doris' life as a daughter, a mother and a jewel thief. I liked her candid, plucky way of telling her story.
June 2, 2020
I got a copy of Diamond Doris at ALA 2019, at a panel Ms. Payne was unfortunately unable to attend. I was dying to read it, but I was recovering from a concussion and couldn't follow a complex story of jewel thievery at the time, tbh. So, I doggedly kept it on my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ for a YEAR b/c there was no way I was gonna let this one slide.
Worth it! Zelda Lockhart does a wonderful job helping Doris Payne's voice shine through. The story is told pretty plainly, with no judgment, no extraneous pondering, no 'what does it all mean' that often mars literary true crime. Doris just lays it out -- her protectiveness toward her mom, her childhood spent in an abusive home, her grit, her zest for life, and her refusal to sit on the sidelines.
Add Diamond Doris to the list of classic underworld memoirs alongside You Can't Win by Jack Black and Catch Me if You Can by Frank W. Abagnale.
Worth it! Zelda Lockhart does a wonderful job helping Doris Payne's voice shine through. The story is told pretty plainly, with no judgment, no extraneous pondering, no 'what does it all mean' that often mars literary true crime. Doris just lays it out -- her protectiveness toward her mom, her childhood spent in an abusive home, her grit, her zest for life, and her refusal to sit on the sidelines.
Add Diamond Doris to the list of classic underworld memoirs alongside You Can't Win by Jack Black and Catch Me if You Can by Frank W. Abagnale.
December 11, 2019
This is an enjoyable romp through the life of Doris Payne, an international criminal with a penchant for stealing diamond jewelry. Having perfected the art of of engaging and distracting sales personnel, Payne pulled off heists in Monte Carlo, Tokyo, Paris, Athens, and numerous upscale stores in the United States. She documents many of these escapades here, but her account nevertheless seems selective, perhaps necessarily so, given seven decades of criminal activity.
Payne, the daughter of an abusive coal miner, was born in Slab Fork, West Virginia. She developed a taste for haute couture from her mother's magazines, from which she cut out advertisements to make her own paper dolls, focusing on models wearing diamond rings, bracelets and earrings. It's testimony to Payne's gentle persuasiveness that she comes across as a highly sympathetic character, despite the fact that a great many businesses were looted (presumably, their losses were typically covered by insurance). More than once she offers the justification that diamonds were mined by exploited African laborers, so she was simply taking back what had been taken by others.
Written with Zelda Lockhart, Diamond Doris is brisk entertainment. Payne names people and places, so there's clearly some truth in her story, but one suspects that there may be embellishments and important missing elements. After all, an account by a highly accomplished con artist has to be taken with a grain of salt. Payne says as much herself:
Payne, the daughter of an abusive coal miner, was born in Slab Fork, West Virginia. She developed a taste for haute couture from her mother's magazines, from which she cut out advertisements to make her own paper dolls, focusing on models wearing diamond rings, bracelets and earrings. It's testimony to Payne's gentle persuasiveness that she comes across as a highly sympathetic character, despite the fact that a great many businesses were looted (presumably, their losses were typically covered by insurance). More than once she offers the justification that diamonds were mined by exploited African laborers, so she was simply taking back what had been taken by others.
Written with Zelda Lockhart, Diamond Doris is brisk entertainment. Payne names people and places, so there's clearly some truth in her story, but one suspects that there may be embellishments and important missing elements. After all, an account by a highly accomplished con artist has to be taken with a grain of salt. Payne says as much herself:
So now you know the true story of Doris Payne.
Did I imagine some of this, make it up, elaborate it, polish it like a good diamond, make you want to look at it -- make you smile?
You have to decide. [p. 265]
March 9, 2020
Holy cow, Doris Payne is just as dazzling a storyteller as she is when she's gunning after your jewels. Her drive, confidence, wit, and insight had me rooting for her the whole way. I honestly admire this lady and her devil-may-care attitude.
I loved how the book's structure, arranged into sections named after the "4 Cs" of diamonds (color, cut, clarity, and carat), brought out particular themes in the life experiences described therein. For example "color" refers to the color of a diamond, obviously, but also was a subtle comment on how race shaped Doris's early experiences of how people would interact with her in public spaces like stores and markets, and how she could manipulate that to her advantage.
Normally I'm not super into reading about swanky hotels, shops, and travel, but because Doris was an interloper in these spaces taking what wasn't "supposed" to be hers, I took satisfaction in every every description of luxurious scenery, accommodations, clothing, and jewelry.
It was also fascinating to read about Doris's life set against the backdrop of various world events, from World War II to Watergate and civil war in Angola, especially given that her career spanned six decades.
I loved how the book's structure, arranged into sections named after the "4 Cs" of diamonds (color, cut, clarity, and carat), brought out particular themes in the life experiences described therein. For example "color" refers to the color of a diamond, obviously, but also was a subtle comment on how race shaped Doris's early experiences of how people would interact with her in public spaces like stores and markets, and how she could manipulate that to her advantage.
Normally I'm not super into reading about swanky hotels, shops, and travel, but because Doris was an interloper in these spaces taking what wasn't "supposed" to be hers, I took satisfaction in every every description of luxurious scenery, accommodations, clothing, and jewelry.
It was also fascinating to read about Doris's life set against the backdrop of various world events, from World War II to Watergate and civil war in Angola, especially given that her career spanned six decades.
March 4, 2020
This is the most amazing story! And the most amazing thing is that it's true. Doris Payne was (and still is at the time of this writing) a black woman in her 80's who's still being arrested for theft. She was a career criminal who targeted high end jewelry stores. She flew all over the world and stole diamonds from the finest jewelry stores in Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Zurich, and more. I have seen some of these stores and I would never have had the chutzpah to go inside them much less make a lifetime career out of stealing from them.
She was very attractive and grew up memorizing Vogue magazine so she would know how to dress for the part. She was a coal miner's daughter, born and raised in poverty. I understand a documentary is in the works. I expect it will glamorize and fabricate parts of the story as did the book. However, if only half of this is true, it's still an incredible story and great entertainment.
She was very attractive and grew up memorizing Vogue magazine so she would know how to dress for the part. She was a coal miner's daughter, born and raised in poverty. I understand a documentary is in the works. I expect it will glamorize and fabricate parts of the story as did the book. However, if only half of this is true, it's still an incredible story and great entertainment.
August 29, 2019
For over six decades, Doris Marie Payne was one of the world’s most notorious jewel thieves. Her memoir takes the reader on a journey that starts with her upbringing in the segregated coalmines of West Virginia in the late 1950s to her prison sentence in 2013. This single, African American mother of two explains how she used her charm, wit, and beauty to get away with some of the most prominent jewelry heists in history. She traveled all around the world, stealing valuable pieces from high-end jewelers. Doris recalls the horrible memories of racism and watching her mother endure physical and emotional abuse by her father. Those circumstances placed a shield around her heart, which made her vow never to let anyone mistreat her. Doris Payne's memoir is very entertaining; each escapade had me on edge.
November 16, 2019
I’m not going to quote you exactly but at the end of this novel she writes, you can believe whether this story is true or not that’s up to you! Hilarious!!
Listening to this audiobook was fascinating to me. Here is this women using what God gave her and robbing jewelry stores. I don’t think you could do now what she did then. It’s all cameras and technology now.
She made no qualms about her lifestyle. I think the part I enjoyed the most was how this book was written. It’s as if Miss Doris was sitting in front of you over dinner and drinks telling you her life story. There’s no political correctness or censorship, just a real conversation about her life.
People are complaining it’s written poorly or she embellished her story. It’s written in a way that makes you want to read/listen in a day. Sometimes, you just gotta take it for what it is and enjoy it,I sure did.
Listening to this audiobook was fascinating to me. Here is this women using what God gave her and robbing jewelry stores. I don’t think you could do now what she did then. It’s all cameras and technology now.
She made no qualms about her lifestyle. I think the part I enjoyed the most was how this book was written. It’s as if Miss Doris was sitting in front of you over dinner and drinks telling you her life story. There’s no political correctness or censorship, just a real conversation about her life.
People are complaining it’s written poorly or she embellished her story. It’s written in a way that makes you want to read/listen in a day. Sometimes, you just gotta take it for what it is and enjoy it,I sure did.
December 15, 2019
Absolutely encourages me to steal more and abandon all men. Would recommend.
November 24, 2019
Diamond Doris is not worth my time. I thought this would be an interesting read. I am amazed the publisher released it. I think it would have been better if it was better written and polished. Perhaps by another writer. I was disappointed. I read about 120 pages and said to myself, enough. It didn't perk my interest enough I guess. It may have been I watched a documentary yesterday. I received the book as a galley from Harper Collins. For me, I would not recommend it. I have other books worth reading than this. I was disappointed. It could be that Doris had no remorse what she did. She also continues to get away with stealing even to this day. She gives the reason," I don't have to depend on a man". Her life story seems so far fetched as well.
December 24, 2019
Meh. DNF. I grew up with a sibling who stole, so I'm not charmed by the story of an entitled thief. Also, I admit I looked at the end and saw the little "Maybe this isn't even true, maybe I made it all up. wink. wink." That just turned me off."
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