Becoming Bonnie: A Novel
3.5/5
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About this ebook
Perfect for readers of Paula McClain, Lisa Wingate, and Hazel Gaynor, and fans of Bonnie and Clyde, Breaking Bad and Netflix's The Highwaymen, Jenni L. Walsh's sparkling debut tells the story of Bonnie Parker as it's never been told before—in her own words.
It's the summer of 1927, and 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 in Cement City, Texas, there aren't many jobs a girl can do.
When Bonnelyn finds work at Doc's, Dallas's newest speakeasy, she finds herself falling hard—for the music, for the freedom, and for a young man with a hint of danger in his smile.
Bonnie is about to meet Clyde Barrow. And her life—like her country—is headed for a crash.
"How do you get from good girl to gangster's moll? Jenni Walsh takes you along for the ride with Bonnelyn Parker in an account so vivid you would think you were there with her.”—New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig
"In Becoming Bonnie, Jenni Walsh delivers an intriguing insight into the life of one half of the infamous duo, Bonnie and Clyde. I look forward to reading more from this new author." —New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor
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Jenni L Walsh
Jenni L. Walsh worked for a decade enticing readers as an award-winning advertising copywriter before becoming an author. Her passion lies in transporting readers to another world, be it in historical or contemporary settings. She is a proud graduate of Villanova University, and lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with her husband, daughter, son, and various pets. Jenni is the USA Today bestselling author of historical novels Becoming Bonnie, Side by Side, A Betting Woman, The Call of the Wrens, and Unsinkable. She also writes books for children, including the nonfiction She Dared series and historical novels Hettie and the London Blitz, I Am Defiance, By the Light of Fireflies, Over and Out, and Operation: Happy. To learn more about Jenni and her books, please visit jennilwalsh.com or @jennilwalsh on social media.
Read more from Jenni L Walsh
The Call of the Wrens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hettie and the London Blitz: A World War II Survival Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for Becoming Bonnie
19 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Bonnie by Jenni L. WalshPublished by Tor ISBN 9780765390189Hardcover, $25.99, 304 pagesI enjoy reading novels about real people. I find it intriguing when authors take a real person and using research and their imagination, write a fascinating story.Jenni L. Walsh's Becoming Bonnie, takes the reader on the journey of Bonnelyn Parker, a young woman living in Texas just before the Great Depression, before she meets Clyde Barrow and becomes one of the most infamous criminals in America- Bonnie of Bonnie & Clyde.Most people know Bonnie Parker from the 1967 classic movie, Bonnie & Clyde, where Faye Dunaway played Bonnie Parker as a bored waitress who falls in love with Warren Beatty's charming Clyde Barrow, and they roam the southwest robbing banks before they end up dead in a violent clash with police.Becoming Bonnie begins with a teenage Bonnie, a good, religious girl from the wrong side of the tracks in Dallas. Bonnie is a good student, and dreams of becoming a teacher. She sings in the church choir, and is a dutiful daughter and kind to her brother and much younger sister.Bonnie's dad is dead, so she helps her working mother by working after school as a waitress in a diner. She is engaged to Roy, a young man who buys a run-down home for them to refurbish and move into once they are married.When the depression hits, it hits Bonnie's family hard. Her brother mangles his hand at the factory where he works, so he becomes a stockbroker just before the crash. Her mother becomes ill and can't work as much. When Bonnie's boss has to let her go because there is no business, she becomes desperate to find a job to help her family.Her best friend Blanche convinces Bonnie to join her at a speakeasy, where they both find jobs. Blanche meets Buck Barrow and it's lust at first sight. Buck introduces Bonnie to his brother Clyde, and when Bonnie saves Clyde's life after a booze running escapade goes awry, Clyde is grateful- and falling in love.Walsh shows us how circumstances moved Bonnie from a shy, devout young woman to a person seduced by a lifestyle and the love of a man who swept her off her feet. She does a wonderful job putting the reader in Bonnie's shoes, and we get a real sense of how the Great Depression left people desperate.The novel really comes alive when Bonnie and Clyde's relationship starts to blossom, you can feel the heat on the page. It reminded me of the Wizard of Oz movie going from black and white to color.Becoming Bonnie ends before the pair begin their crime spree, and I hope that Walsh will revisit the story and tell us what happened after they became Bonnie and Clyde.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5HISTORICAL FICTIONJenni L. WalshBecoming Bonnie: A NovelForge BooksHardcover, 978-0-7653-9018-9 (also available as an e-book, on Audible, and on audio CD), 304 pgs., $25.99May 9, 2017 “But I, being poor, have only my dreams.” “Saint” Bonnelyn Parker grew up poor and ambitious in Cement City, a company town in West Dallas created for the employees of the area’s cement plants, in the early twentieth century. In 1927, Bonnelyn is seventeen years old, attending high school, singing in the church choir, escaping into books at the local library, and dreaming of becoming a teacher. When her widowed mother becomes ill, her brother is hurt on the job, and Bonnelyn is laid off from her waitressing job, she follows her best friend, Blanche, to a bartending job in an illegal speakeasy (its walls papered with pro-Prohibition posters) in the basement of a physician’s office in what is now the Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas, so she can keep the electricity on. Becoming Bonnie is the debut novel by Jenni L. Walsh. Historical fiction set in Dallas during the latter years of Prohibition, Becoming Bonnie is the story of how prim and proper Bonnelyn Parker became half of the infamous, bootlegging and bank-robbing couple Bonnie and Clyde. The pace is steady if slow at times. The plot is simple but packs a healthy number of twists. Walsh’s characters are engaging, especially Bonnelyn’s best friend, the irrepressible Blanche. Bonnelyn seems to break character regularly, but these instances always follow a threat to the financial survival of her family, providing plausible motivation. “I mixed right and wrong together ’til I found a comfy spot in the middle,” Bonnelyn says. Walsh’s historical details are authentic, often charming, and well deployed. Her research of the era and setting is obvious, while she grants having taken liberal license with her historical characters, beginning with Bonnie Parker’s name. Bonnelyn’s first-person narrative is written colloquially (“Mama had more pride than a lion”): droppin’ its G’s; using “ya” for “you”; “’cross” for “across”. This technique is effective but used inconsistently: an equal number of G’s remain, and some word choices appear too sophisticated for the established down-home, country style—the same Bonnelyn who says “not no one” refers to customers at a café as “patrons”. Overuse of various conjugations of “growl”, and the like, indicate a need for closer editing. These elements taken together can be distracting. Becoming Bonnie is most refreshing in that it’s not about Clyde Barrow; he doesn’t appear until a third of the way through, and doesn’t become a factor in Bonnelyn’s life until two-thirds of the way through. It’s not about him. Becoming Bonnie is a coming-of-age story centering on Bonnelyn’s transformation from reserved, conventional, small-town girl to risk-taking, dangerous, gangster moll. One of the best things about Becoming Bonnie is the power of female friendship between Bonnelyn and Blanche.While uneven, Becoming Bonnie is creative and has moments of inspiration; Walsh has promise. Y’all look for the sequel, Being Bonnie, coming soon.Originally published in Lone Star Literary Life.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bonnie and Clyde, the 1930s outlaws, are always a fun topic. What makes this book a little frustrating is that it takes so long for the infamous pair to meet, but otherwise, the journey of Bonnie Parker from a good Church-going teenager to Clyde's dangerous companion is an engaging story, and I hope that this book is the first of at least one more, considering its conclusion. Fun read overall, but it took a while for the plot to pick up.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The lives of Bonnie and Clyde are much romanticized nearly a hundred years later. They were hooligans in love, partners in crime that stuck it to the man and who went out in a blaze of glory. Or was that really the story?In Becoming Bonnie we see the beginning of that story. We see the world as Bonnie knows it, of the various struggles of her family, of her marriage to a boy named Roy, how she met the first members of Barrow gang and most importantly, how she met Clyde. It's a romance, a coming of age story and a dip into the past in a most artful way. I've learned that the novel has been optioned for TV and I really hope that comes to fruition because this would make for some seriously awesome television. And I'm dying to read the sequel--there must be a sequel to this or I'll be forever heartbroken. Even though I know what happens, I want to hear it told in the fantastic new voice that Jenni Walsh brings to the table.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Apart from the Tudors and Victorian London another strong interest I have is with Bonnie and Clyde. There are non fiction books out there but not fiction. So when I saw this one I had to have my own copy.This is the first book about Bonnie and Clyde but focuses more so on Bonnie, and she doesn't meet Clyde until later in the book. The author has drawn from facts but has taken liberties in the earlier life of Bonnie. She does cover Bonnie's marriage to Roy, her tattoo and once meeting Clyde snuggling a gun into the prison.I loved this book. It gives Bonnie a life before Clyde and in this account she wasn't always bad. Bonnie goes to church and works hard for her family. The story can be a little slow at times but it's building slowly towards the second book.This book is a must for anybody who has an interest in the story of Bonnie and Clyde. I will certainly look forward to Side by Side.