The Pink Bonnet is part of Barbour Publishing’s new true crime series, which makes this statement from the front matter a little laughable:
This book is a work of fiction … Any similarity to actual people, organizations, and/or events is purely coincidental.
Um, no. The Pink Bonnet is a fictional story based on the real-life Georgia Tann of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, and her kidnapping and sale of babies and children in adoption between 1924 and 1950.
Tann was aided in as many as 5,000 illegal adoptions by a lawyer, a judge, and a mayor.
Anyway …
I’ve previously read Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, a dual timeline story which dealt with one fictional family broken by Georgia Tann’s misdeeds, so I knew The Pink Bonnet was going to touch on the tough subject of adoption. Liz Tolsma was an excellent choice to write this story, as she’s an adoptive parent herself, so understands some of the issues firsthand.
The Pink Bonnet is the story of widow Cecile Dowd, whose three-year-old daughter is handed over to Georgia Tann by her neighbour, who was babysitting Millie Mae while Cecile ran an errand.
Cecile will do anything to get her daughter back, but soon finds that logic and law aren’t on her side.
She needs help—which comes in the form of Percy Vance, one of Georgia Tann’s lawyers. Vance has his own reasons for supporting Tann’s adoption crusade. He begins to doubt Tann’s motives when he realises Mrs Dowd isn’t the uncaring and ignorant mother Tann portrayed.
This turns The Pink Bonnet into what could have been a run-of-the-mill romantic suspense chase to find Millie May. Instead, the author adds a layer of complexity by introducing two families who have recently adopted girls from Tann—girls they soon come to love. Is Millie one of these girls? Which one? And what will happen if and when Cecile Dowd finds her daughter?
There are no easy answers.
I’ve read one previous novel in Barbour’s true crime series, The White City by Grace Hitchcock, the story of America’s first serial killer. In some ways I found that easier to read, because the author had injected touches of humour which kept the book from becoming too dark.
The Pink Bonnet had no such light-hearted moments, which increased the tension almost to the point of being unbearable (especially as I knew Georgia Tann was an evildoer who really did ruin thousands of lives). But it’s also an excellent novel that wasn’t afraid to ask the hard questions about adoption.
The story is timely, given the news stories of ICE officials taking suspected illegal immigrants into custody—including reports of children being taken on their way to or from school … something Georgia Tann was known to do.
Overall, The Pink Bonnet is a well-written and thought-provoking story, but one that might hit too close to home for some readers given the subject matter.
Thanks to Barbour Publishing and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.
About Liz Tolsma
Passionate might best describe Liz Tolsma. She loves writing, research, and editing. Her passion shone through in her first novel which was a double award finalist. On any given day, you might find her pulling weeds in her perennial garden, walking her hyperactive dog, or curled up with a good book. Nothing means more to her than her family. She’s married her high-school sweetheart twenty-eight years ago. Get her talking about international adoption, and you might never get her to stop. She and her husband adopted three children, including a son who is a U.S. Marine, and two daughters.Find Liz Tolsma online at:
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About The Pink Bonnet
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?
Find The Pink Bonnet online at:
Amazon | Bookbub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong
