Becoming Bonnie
How exactly did Bonnie Elizabeth Parker go from small-town Texas high school dropout to the female half of one of the 20th century’s most famous crime duos? That’s the story Becoming Bonnie aims to tell. When we meet Bonnelyn, as she’s called in this tale, she’s a choir girl intent on becoming a teacher. But soon her family’s financial troubles lead her to take up work in a Dallas speakeasy, where, with the help of her reckless friend Blanche and the gangsters employed there, she slowly embarks on increasingly illegal activities—all in the name of helping her family and clinging to her hope of living the American Dream.
With the subtitle “The Crash of the Century: When Bonnie Met Clyde,” it’s natural to assume this will be an action-packed book. Unfortunately, that is not the case. There are a few exciting moments here and there, but most of the story could have been condensed into the first third or fourth of a book that tells the tale the subtitle hints at: how Bonnie and Clyde came together to become the legends we know. The famous pair doesn’t even formally meet until near the end, making their instantaneous love hard to believe. Had the book been less focused on goody-two-shoes Bonnie’s hemming and hawing over committing minor illegal acts and upsetting her boyfriend/husband, and more on her interactions with Clyde, it would have been a more satisfying experience.
“Saint Bonnelyn,” as many of the characters call her, is so good that it’s hard to believe she’ll eventually become a gangster’s moll, even with the motivations the author has given her. As an origin story, this book isn’t bad, but it’s not captivating, either. I’m hoping the next book will have the page-turning adventure this one lacked.
