Chapter Break with Joan Elizabeth Bauer

BIO:

Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Joan Elizabeth Bauer lives with her husband Paul in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they have raised three children. Joan holds a master’s degree in English from Marquette University and has worked as a trust officer in a bank. Her short fiction and book reviews have appeared in various journals, including Dappled Things, The Windhover, and Last Syllable. “Consignment,” a novelette, was published in 2023. The Bicycle Messenger is her debut novel. 

SYNOPSIS:

In the 1970s, when a distant cousin dies unexpectedly, Mary Ellen and Charles Hawley agree to adopt his seven-year-old son Steven. The child’s birth mother, a Polish immigrant, has schizophrenia and can't assume custody. Steven later develops bipolar disorder, and when a manic swing sends him on a quixotic journey to Poland, Mary Ellen agrees to harbor a secret no mother should ever keep.

The Bicycle Messenger is a story of generational trauma that stretches from the last days of the Kraków ghetto in 1942 all the way to 2016. But it is also a story of unexpected grace.

LINKS:

• https://joanelizabethbauer.com/
• https://substack.com/@joanelizabethbauer
• Preorder: https://chrismpress.com/product/the-bicycle-messenger/