"How do you go from good girl to gangster's moll? Jenni L. Walsh takes you along for the ride in an account so vivid you would think you were there with her.”—New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig, on Becoming Bonnie An audiobook about America’s most infamous crime spree, told in the raw and honest voice of the woman who lived it, Bonnie Parker. Texas: 1931. Bonnie Parker’s dreams of the limelight and a white picket fence are on hold. She’s a waitress in Dallas, endlessly writing letters to the governor pleading for the release of the man she loves: a reckless, quick-smiling boy named Clyde Barrow, sentenced to fourteen years at the notorious Eastham prison farm. When Clyde is paroled early, Bonnie thinks their life is about to really begin. But Clyde has changed in prison. Distant, damaged, and dogged by the cops, he knows it’s only a matter of time before the law tries to lock him up again. That’s not something he or Bonnie can bear. When he’s fired from his job—and now breaking parole—he decides to make a run for it. Leave Texas. Get enough cash to make a fresh start in a new state. And, of course, he wants his beloved Bonnie to come with him. It’s just one stolen car. One robbed bank. Then, they can have the life they always wanted. Or so they think, as they set out. Unflinching and yet deeply empathetic, Jenni L. Walsh’s Side by Side tells the story of America's most iconic outlaws.
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Walsh’s debut historical novel brings the Prohibition era, the Great Depression, and American gangsters to life through the personality and circumstances of a notorious moll who starts out as a good girl. Although the story focuses on Bonnie, supporting characters provide further perspectives on the magnetic pull of jazz, illegal booze, and a (short) life on the lam . . . Look forward to the sequel for later exploits of these notorious bandits.
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