The Pink Bonnet: True Colors: Historical Stories of American Crime

Paperback, ebook, hardcover, audio

June 1, 2019

by Liz Tolsma (Author)

• Series: True Colors
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Barbour Books 
• ISBN-13: 978-1643520452

A Desperate Mother Searches for Her Child

Step into True Colors -- a new series of Historical Stories of Romance and American Crime

Widowed in Memphis during 1932, Cecile Dowd is struggling to provide for her three-year-old daughter. Unwittingly trusting a neighbor puts little Millie Mae into the clutches of Georgia Tann, corrupt Memphis Tennessee Children’s Home Society director suspected of the disappearance of hundreds of children. With the help of a sympathetic lawyer, the search for Millie uncovers a deep level of corruption that threatens their very lives.
 
How far will a mother go to find out what happened to her child?
 

Today I welcome guest reviewer Marilyn Ridgway to my blog

My thoughts (Reviewed by Marilyn):  

The Pink Bonnet is a gripping story that kept the pages turning and tugged at my emotions. This fictional historical book is based on the horrendous crime of Georgia Tann in Memphis, Tennessee when she ran an adoption agency. She obtained children by kidnapping or having birth parents sign papers when they did not understand they were terminating their rights.

Liz Tolsma brought Cecile Dowd's, a young widow, story to life with the kidnapping of her child Millie, after a neighbor forged her name on documents that Tann had her to sign terminating parental rights. The realism of her fight to have Millie returned from Tann and her cronies gave way to discovering others were involved in the operation to the point that law enforcement and the judicial system would not assist Cecile or even listen at times to explain the truth. Percy Vance provided legal assisted to Tann, but Millie’s kidnapping and Cecile’s pleas tug at his heart. Will Percy and Cecile be able to overcome all the obstacles, threats and be able to expose the truth of Tann’s action?

Tolsma vivid descriptive flow of all the drama, heartbreak, anger and threats on lives along with fictional character Cecile Dowd’s fortitude, tenacity and faith in God has remained with me since I closed the book. One cannot fathom the agony and desperation of the parents when their children disappeared by Tann and her partners not only in this story but in America history from 1924 – 1950. The Pink Bonnet is a true picture how an injustice can infiltrate a life and even reach those who are to serve others, while the innocent ones are suffering.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review. All thoughts are my own sincere ones for this heartbreaking book in the series "True Colors--Fiction Based on Strange but True History." I look forward to reading the next book in this series.