The Girl From The Papers

By Jennifer L. Wright

Description:

Beatrice Carraway has dreams. Although she’s aged out of the childhood pageant circuit, she’s intent on carrying her talents all the way to the big screen―if only she can escape the poverty of West Dallas first. But as the Great Depression drags the working class further and further under, Beatrice struggles just to keep herself, her mother, and her younger sister afloat. After a string of failed auditions, she feels defeated.

And then in walks Jack Turner. Though Beatrice is determined to pull herself up by her bootstraps, Jack has decided on a different path out of the gutters. It isn’t long before Beatrice is swept into an exciting and glamorous life of crime beside the man she loves. Keeping one step ahead of the law, she sees her dreams of fame come true when her name and picture are plastered in newspapers across the country. Yet as their infamy grows, the distance between them widens. While Jack begins seeking bigger payouts and publicity, Beatrice starts to long for a safe, quiet life and something deeper to fill the emptiness in her soul. But when the danger of Jack’s schemes ratchets up, Beatrice fears her dreams―and her future―will end up going down in a hail of bullets.

Book Takeaway:

This book speaks to the struggle between the desires of this world and the deepest desires of our souls. If we are forced to choose, which do we love more?

Why the author wrote this book:

I've always been fascinated by the story of Bonnie and Clyde, but I was even more fascinated when I discovered that the two of them supposedly possessed strong Christian faith. Their choices in life, of course, spoke a different story. So I began to wonder what their lives may have looked like if they had chosen to FOLLOW that Christian faith rather than just proclaim it.