What makes this story heartbreaking is that it’s a fictional story about Georgia Tann and her adoptions. I can only imagine what the mothers felt like when their babies were taken and given to homes that Tann thought were better. Meaning those that could pay for the babies. This story is one you won’t be able to put down.

This was a good read. I cannot say I enjoyed it because it tells a true and tragic story. Child abduction and abuse resulting from greed are hard to read about. The story flows very well and there is plenty of action and drama. I would read other works by this author.

This book had me at the edge of my seat. I seriously could not stop thinking or saying WTF because the writing made the situation so believable.

Oh. My. Gravy. THIS BOOK WILL KEEP YOUR HEART POUNDING UNTIL THE VERY END!!!!.I am a huge fan of this author and was super excited to get a chance to read this. This book starts out with a bang and does not let up the entire time. As always, well written characters. SUPER suspensful story line, well researched and descriptions that make you feel like you are right there in the middle of it. As a mother myself, I would NEVER stop trying to find my child. I could so relate to this mom. I love that this is based off a true story.

I received a copy of this book throug hte Celebrate Lit blogging program, all thoughts are my own.

The Pink Bonnet: True Colors: Historical Stories of American Crime
by Liz Tolsma

Wow a powerful story, the difficulty of the depression has made many families living below their prior means. Cecile Dowd is a widow, on hard times. She is trying to find work to support her and her daughter. What she does not know is that her neighbor is going to betray her and upend her world. Her daughter is kidnapped by a legal social worker, who claims she signed away her parental rights while the child was with the neighbor. The book looks into the depravity of the people in power who manipulate the adoption system, stealing children from their home, and adopting them for profit. Its a roller-coaster ride of clues, based on three points of view. The book is fast paced and heart rendering dramatic.

Liz Tolsma's The Pink Bonnet is a well-written story set in the midst of a troubling piece of American history.

For somewhere around 25 years, Georgia Tann ran an adoption agency in Memphis, Tennessee and is suspected of kidnapping hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of children and selling them for profit for herself and for those who were involved in the corrupt schemes with her. Liz Tolsma has obviously done a great deal of research on this troublesome time and has used that information as the back-drop for a fictional story. The characters and specific details from her own imagination give a taste of what those real children and their parents might have experienced.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about these historical events. The story moves a little slowly at times and comes across a little dark because of the content. But throughout it all, there is the uplifting story of a mother's love and determination to do anything she can to bring her child back home.

Thanks to Celebrate Lit for providing a copy of the book. I am happy to share my own thoughts in this review.

I rarely read Christian fiction, not because I have a religious difference with it, but because I often find the writing to be sub-par. However, when I was offered the opportunity to read Liz Tolsma’s “The Pink Bonnet,” I was intrigued by the subject she chose for this debut novel, so I decided to give it a read. This book takes us back again to Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, which many of us read about in “Before We Were Yours.” I’m not going to say much more about it, except to add that this story is written primarily from the point of view of a mother whose child was abducted by Ms. Tann. It was written in a way that kept me turning pages quickly, and while there were more than one ongoing sub-plots, I never felt like I was pulled in too many directions. My only minor complaint with the writing was that a couple of times in the last few chapters the writer threw in some “spiritual” comments or thoughts by the characters that felt a bit forced, as if she remembered she was publishing this as Christian fiction and had better add something to justify that. Overall, though, the writing was well done. Thank you to Netgalley and Barbour Publishing for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

It's so shocking that this can even be a story! I have read one other book about the Memphis Tennessee Children’s Home Society and I was still shocked that anything like this can happen. The author did a great job showing the horror and how a mother could react to such a horrible situation.

I enjoyed this book and could often not put it down. There were a few situations that I thought "Really?? I cannot image it would have happened like that." But other than an occasional moment or decision, I enjoyed this story and would recommend The Pink Bonnet.

My Thoughts:
This book. Wow. I could not put it down. Book one in the series was equally amazing as I was able to review it. I cannot wait for the next one now! Each is by a different author so the style of writing is different but the true crime aspect is chilling.

I kept asking myself how? How could this have gone on? Who knew and didn’t stop it? How could people just turn a blind eye? If it had just been for the year the book takes place that’s one thing but this woman had a long crime spree. She did this for literally decades!

Great read. I could not put it down. Worry for Millie Mae, compassion for Cecile, and a good heaping dose of fear for Percy. These people have no qualms about taking what they want and hurting those who stand in the way.

I was nail biting! For real here. I stayed up way too late while it was storming outside to read this book. It was that riveting.

Fear filled me as more mothers lost their little ones. Would they ever see them again? What if that were me? Oh, my mama’s heart.

Be prepared for fear, and tears, and anger, and love. So much emotion in this book. Amazing read. The characters just suck you in. You want to just give Miss Tann what for and save all the little babies in the cribs.

Do yourself a favor. Get this book. Make sure you get to book one in the series too. Then get on the list for books three and four and all the others to come. This series is spellbinding and you won’t want to miss one.

I’m off to go see what else I can find by Liz Tolsma now. Her writing style is phenomenal so I want to know if she has any more mysteries that are going to have me on the edge of my seat.

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

Cecile Dowd is a single mother, just trying to keep life together in 1933 for her and her three year old daughter Millie. Cecile is a widow and it's the great depression. Without her husband, it's difficult to always control Millie's behavior and make sure there is enough food on the table. Cecile decides she needs to get another job to help make things easier. While she goes out looking, she leaves Millie with a neighbor. When she returns to pick up Millie at the end of the day, Millie is gone. The neighbor says, that Cecile can't handle the child and has given her to someone who can help, Georgia Tann the head of the Tennessee Children's Home. They "help" parents find loving families for their children. But Cecile didn't ask for this and neither did a lot of other parents. Ms. Tann is taking children from parents she deems unfit and sending them to other families in the area. Ms. Tann has most of the Tennessee government in her back pocket and no matter who Cecile goes to for help, it's to no avail. Will she be able to find Millie before she's gone forever? With people trying to stop her at every turn, Cecile is determined, no matter what the cost.

Thank you to NetGalley and Barbour Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book is based on a true story. Georgia Tann was a real woman who really ran an adoption agency in Tennessee for over 25 years. During her tenure, it is believed that approximately 5,000 children were taken unwillingly from their parents and sold in adoptions to whoever would pay the highest price.

This book hit my heart hard. I can't imagine what I would do, if I left my child with a friend or neighbor for a little bit and then when I came back they had forged my name on documents to allow my child to be taken for adoption. Or if they were just snatched from the street on their way home from school. This was happening to hundreds of families during the depression. People were doing anything they could to make ends meet, but for Georgia Tann that didn't matter. One parent should be with the child at all times. That is the only way to show that you really love and are able to take care of the child.

I would love to read more about this lady. I hope there was a warm seat in hell waiting for her and all her cohorts when she passed away. Throughout the story, you can feel the love for Millie that Cecile has and she risks her life and the lives of those that are helping her in order to get to her daughter. No matter what she does, though it never seems like enough, Millie is always just beyond her grasp.

Liz Tolsma takes a true event and weaves historical fact with fiction, creating a gripping read in THE PINK BONNET (2019).

After reading Lisa Wingate's UNTIL WE WERE YOURS (2017), the story of Georgia Tann and her adoptiion practices has stayed with me. So I was intrigued to find this book by Liz Tolsma.

While these books were similar in that they dealt with the true events surrounding the Tennessee Children's Home Society, they are very different. Tolsma's book is written from the perspective of a widowed mother whose child was abducted by Georgia Tann and placed in another family. Tolsma's book is more plot-driven, focusing on the work of the mother and a lawyer who track down her missing child.

Wingate's book deals with the story of siblings who are separated by Tann's abduction and adoption practices and find their way back to one another.

Tolsma is to be praised for for stepping out of her normal genre and she does an excellent job in telling a credible story.

This is an excellent book by Liz Tolsma. I am new to her books and was very satisfied with this book.
"The Pink Bonnet" deals with a very sad and difficult topic. The kidnapping and selling of children to the highest payer. The fact this book is based on true events is both interesting and disturbing.

Miss Georgia Tann poses as a loving, caring, and compassionate person. In reality she is cruel and deceptive. She runs the "Tennessee Children's Home Society". She has corrupt judges in her pocket to aid in illegal adoptions to unsuspecting families. She is a woman who is a truly evil.

The book mainly Focuses on Cecile Dowd who is struggling to care for three year old Millie. One day Cecile comes home to find Millie gone. She was left with a neighbor who allowed Miss Tann's team to take her.

The book focuses on Cecile's struggle to find Millie and bring her home. You will not be disappointed in this book.

What an incredible roller coaster ride this book was!
This book is part of a series Barbour Books has out called True Colors: Historical Stories of American Crime. All the stories are based on true crimes that have happened in the past.
Like I just said this book was a wild ride, it took my emotions all over the place.
A young mother down on her luck after her husband's death in the early 1930's may not have had a lot of money but she was rich on love for her daughter, her only child.
A busy body neighbor thinks the right thing to do is give the child to Memphis Tennessee Children’s Home Society director,Georgia Tann. She ran this place from 1924 to 1950.
She wasn't in it to help the children but to make money by kidnapping innocent children from loving homes and selling them. My mother's heart can not understand why. The pain you would inflict on the families with the children never being seen by them again and never knowing what happened. All I can say is this woman must have been horribly mistreated as a child to have no compassion or care what her actions caused.
I was riveted while reading this fast paced book, it was very hard to put down. I will be doing some research of my own into this subject online as it is fascinating!
I highly recommend this book!
Published June 1st 2019 by Barbour Books.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

This book was fascinating yet heart-wrenching. Imagine being Cecile, a widow with a three-year-old daughter in 1932. Now imagine how you would feel coming home from running errands to find out that someone you trusted to watch your daughter, turned her over to someone who thinks it's ok to take and adopt children out, even though they live in a decent home but aren't of a certain class. Cecile is distraught but will not give up looking for her daughter no matter what. Follow Cecile on her journey to discover what happened to her daughter and find out if they will be reunited at last. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Barbour Books in exchange for an honest review.

I love Liz Tolsma's books and have read all of her WWII fiction. This book takes place in Tennessee and is the story of one mother's journey to find her stolen daughter. If you want a fluffy, light, beach read, this is not it. I found the premise interesting, in that I learned about the horrors that was the Children's Aid Society and the evilness that was Georgia Tann. How that woman could sleep at night, I will never know. The author writes well, the story line itself was well-written, just not a book I can gush over.

The Pink Bonnet by Liz Tolsma is part of Barbour Publishing’s True Colors series, fiction based on strange but true history.

Set in Memphis 1933, The Pink Bonnet tells the true story of Georgia Tann, the director of the Memphis Children’s Home Society, through the eyes of fictional character, Cecile Dowd, a recently widowed young mother.

The year 1933 was an exceptionally difficult year for many, people are starving, homeless, and begging for work. Cecile Dowd has managed to keep a small apartment in a run down building, providing housing for her young daughter. She works part time and a neighbor looks after her daughter. Upon her return home from work one afternoon, she finds her young daughter gone. Vanished.

Thus begins a young mother’s journey to learn where her daughter is, along with the children of other mothers she meets during her search. A search that will bring much danger to many, including Cecile, the children or anyone else who threatens Georgia Tann’s very corrupt business practices.

Georgia Tann was real, she was not fiction, no matter how much I and hundreds of others wish it could be so. The Pink Bonnet is a well written fictional account of how the parents of hundreds of children must of despaired of ever seeing their children again. Sounds strange perhaps, but I could almost hear Cecile Dowd’s young daughter crying for her mother.

Highly recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and am under no obligation to write a positive review. All thoughts and opinions therein are solely my own, and freely given.

A heart-wrenching story based on the Georgia Tann orphan scandal. It made me cringe and I felt my heart squeeze at the pain the children and parents endure. Must have a strong stomach to read this. Many have claimed to cry with this book, I didn’t…. but I did fight the tears a couple of times 😉. Gruesome history comes to live in these pages.
I was given this ebook by Netgally but not required to give a good review. This was my honest opinion.

The Pink Bonnet by Liz Tolsma continues the true crime series that really exemplifies that fact is stranger than fiction. In the second book of the True Colors series, Tolsma presents a very personal look at the corruption and pure evil that dominated the adoption scene in Memphis from the 1920s right up to the 1950s. The infamous Georgia Tann and her Tennessee Children’s Home Society are at the center of the novel. Greed and power are two motivators for those who stole and sold children. But it is an unrelenting love that wins the day in this fictional account. Tolmsa uses historical touches — dress, setting, culture — to set the stage of this mystery/suspense set in the 1930s. A child is stolen, and mother Cecile Dowd never gives up on finding her daughter. Swept into the drama is lawyer and assistant to Tann, Percy Vance. The two are great complimentary characters — dogged in determination and set on seeing that evil does not win. While The Pink Bonnet is pure fiction, it is a good representation of the subject matter. I had heard of Georgia Tann, but did not truly know how she preyed on the desperate and vulnerable, with seemingly no opposition. While primarily a mystery/suspense novel, this quick read also features a budding romance — it really offers something for everyone.

For a glimpse into an historical true crime story, The Pink Bonnet is a good choice and receives a recommended rating from me.

Recommended.

Audience: adults.

Wow, this is quite a story — base on something that happened in history. Georgia Tann ran an adoption agency from 1924 to 1950. Things were not on the up and up for the adoptions.

Cecile is a widow with a three-year-old daughter. Millie is taken and put up for adoption. Cecile is in search of her daughter. A lawyer helps her. Very suspenseful and exciting. The book kept my attention throughout the story. A mother determined to find her daughter.

I received an advanced copy of the book from the publisher through Celebrate Lit. I was not required to write a positive review.

If you are looking for a feel good happily ever after book, this is the wrong book. What you will find is a story based on a true crime by a sinister, heartless and ruthless woman named Georgia Tann. I could not dislike a person more than this horrible woman. I was angry throughout the book that innocent children and parents were victimized by a woman who wanted nothing but power and money.

Cecile was raising her young girl alone since her husband passed away. She struggled with bills, but her child was well taken care of. I loved her devotion to her child Millie and how much love she showed her. When a series of events take place, Cecile finds her daughter taken away from her home and put up for adoption. I still can't understand why her neighbor didn't seem to think it was suspicious that Millie was being taken away knowing how much Cecile loved her. I think the neighbor was led to believe that the child was in danger and not being taken care of properly.

I won't go into a lot of the story because it needs to be read so readers can feel the agony that Cecile went through trying to find her daughter. I will say that many children fell through the cracks due to Georgia Tann and not all were returned to the rightful parents. I can't imagine what torture it would be to know your child had been taken and you had no idea where they were.

The author has written a very emotional story that captivated my full attention. I could not put it down and read it in a few hours. The details are painful to read at times and you can feel the adrenaline rush as the search for Millie starts to escalate. Cecile finds someone to help her and their lives are put in danger as they get closer to the truth. It is an intense read that will have you on the edge of your seat. Get ready for a powerful story written with depth, emotion and an ending that won't be forgotten.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. And Net Galley. The review is my own opinion.