Becoming Bonnie

by Jenni L. Walsh

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Book cover for Becoming Bonnie

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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.
  • ISBN10 0765390183
  • ISBN13 9780765390189
  • Publish Date 9 May 2017
  • Publish Status Out of Print
  • Out of Print 12 May 2021
  • Publish Country US
  • Imprint Forge
  • Format Hardcover
  • Pages 304
  • Language English