John Kendrick Bangs

Mrs. Raffles (Illustrated) John Kendrick Bangs

Mrs. Raffles is the story of how a pair of thieves weasel themselves into American high society and begin gleefully ripping off everyone around them. Warrington Bunny is our protagonist, a professional henchman who is hopelessly in love with the scheming and ingenious wife of his previous (and deceased) partner in crime, Raffles. Mrs. Henriette Van Raffles is brilliant and charming and quite alive to all the possibilities around her for the stealthy unlawful acquisition of other people's wealth. She masterminds all the plans, which Bunny faithfully executes, and merrily they carry on with American society none the wiser -- and much poorer. Why hasn't the BBC gotten on this yet? It could be a splendid miniseries of heists and manners.