Becoming Bonnie by Jenni L. Walsh
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Released May 9, 2017
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The summer of 1927 might be the height of the Roaring Twenties, but Bonnelyn Parker is more likely to belt out a church hymn than sling drinks at an illicit juice joint. She’s a sharp girl with plans to overcome her family’s poverty, provide for herself, and maybe someday marry her boyfriend, Roy Thornton. But when Roy springs a proposal on her and financial woes jeopardize her ambitions, Bonnelyn finds salvation in an unlikely place: Dallas’s newest speakeasy, Doc’s.
Living the life of a moll at night, Bonnie remains a wholesome girl by day, engaged to Roy, attending school and working toward a steady future. When Roy discovers her secret life, and embraces it—perhaps too much, especially when it comes to booze and gambling—Bonnie tries to make the pieces fit. Maybe she can have it all: the American Dream, the husband, and the intoxicating allure of jazz music. What she doesn’t know is that her life—like her country—is headed for a crash.
She’s about to meet Clyde Barrow.
Few details are known about Bonnie’s life prior to meeting her infamous partner. In Becoming Bonnie, Jenni L. Walsh shows a young woman promised the American dream and given the Great Depression, and offers a compelling account of why she fell so hard for a convicted felon—and turned to crime herself.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
This was my first historical fiction novel and it blew me away! Becoming Bonnie was riveting and the facts lined up with history. Although this is fiction, it was authentic and well written. I feel the need to go visit all of the Bonnie and Clyde attractions around town.
“Bonnelyn, well that name ain’t pretty enough for the lies of you. I reckon Bonnie suits you better.”
I was thoroughly fascinated with how Bonnie became the Bonnie we think when we here Bonnie and Clyde. You felt her dismay and apprehension in the begging of the book along with the pain and anguish in the middle and the love and lust and fascination in the end. This is the story or Bonnie, that we don’t hear much about and I can’t wait to see what else Jenni L. Walsh writes. She has made a fan out of me.
“How the story ends, no one knows… But one thing’s clear, you’ll see… Bonnie and Clyde, meant to be, alive and free.”
