Diamond Doris

A film adaptation is in the works for this memoir of Doris Payne, a jewel thief whose career spanned decades and whose story is often compared to Ocean's 8, The Heist, and Thelma & Louise. Payne grew up during the Depression in Slab Fork, a segregated coal town in West Virginia, where she was told that a poor Black girl could not reach for the life she wanted. After a jewelry store owner ordered her out when a white customer walked in, she resolved to beat the system, and she also wanted to help her mother leave an abusive relationship.

Payne relied on her Southern charm, quick thinking, and an interest in magic. She started by shoplifting small jewelry items from local shops, and over six decades her skill grew with every job. She became a world-class thief who carried out many diamond robberies, while her boyfriend sold the stolen stones to Hollywood stars. Store owners were slow to report the losses, partly because they did not want to admit a Black woman had fooled them, so her crimes stayed unsolved into the 1970s.

The partnership ended when her boyfriend realized she was using him and turned her in. Her arrest followed the theft of a ring worth more than half a million dollars in Monte Carlo. Even behind bars she was hard to hold, and she escaped using nuns and a range of schemes. Her 2013 arrest in San Diego brought media attention to her exploits. Now eighty-seven, Payne lives in Atlanta and is admired for her glamorous reputation. She describes her life of crime as a better option than working as a teacher or a maid.

The book is an adventure story about a woman who refused to accept the prejudice and social rules that surrounded her. Readers drawn to bold, audacious true stories and anti-heroes will find it engaging.