Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. Opinions shared are mine.

The True Colors series has so much potential! It’s a great option for readers who enjoy clean stories (no profanity or graphic bedroom scenes) but suspense. I read many thrillers, so this series is exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately, taking out some of the more “mature” stuff also seems to take away some of the depth. At least, that’s how I felt about The Pink Bonnet by Liz Tolsma.

This tragic story is based on the true events of child abductions orchestrated by the villainous Georgia Tann in the early 20th century. This was the first time I’d heard about this shocking history. It prompted me to Google more information and I found out that it’s been shared on many public channels in the past couple of decades. Some of the families impacted by Tann’s evil have been reunited.

I’ve read some of Liz Tolsma’s historical fiction in the past and love her writing style. She’s almost poetic in her description of scenes. For some reason, her typical prose often seemed stilted and rushed in The Pink Bonnet. In several passages, I had to reread sentences to understand what was going on. For instance, this minor example stopped me in the middle of a paragraph.

“Percy’s boss back when he first passed the bar lowered himself into the chair.”

The awkward phrasing took me out of the moment. I found this happened a lot during The Pink Bonnet. Aside from this, several story elements (mostly within action scenes) didn’t make sense, which made me wonder if they might be edited out in a finished copy of the book.

Whether it’s television or in books, I get seriously annoyed by stupid women. Cecile made me roll my eyes SO MANY TIMES. She continually wavered between complete dependence and unreasonable stubbornness throughout the story. I tried to cut her some slack, telling myself that women didn’t have access to things like the internet or even television during the 1930s. But come on! Her selfish need for constant reassurance (and, yes, a man’s arm) just grated on my nerves. I was on her side only because she was a mother looking for her child, not because I cared about her as a character.

Don’t misunderstand me. There were some good parts to the story, too! I loved seeing how women banded together in times of need. It was interesting to read about the abuse of power that clearly dominated Memphis during that time period. I enjoyed the author’s note which described some of the historic truths included in the book. I just had bigger hopes about The Pink Bonnet.

About the Book:

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?