Book Review of The Bicycle Messenger by Joan Elizabeth Bauer
Title: The Bicycle Messenger
Publisher: Chrism Press (August 4, 2025)
Language: English
Format: softcover or EBook, 306 pages
Genre: contemporary/historical fiction
ISBN: 979-8-88709-122-8
Ebook: 979-8-88709-123-5
Reviewed by Mary Beth Scholl Maas
A well-researched, heartfelt historical novel spanning 80 years from Krakow, Poland to Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The phone call came to Mary Ellen and Charles Hawley unexpectedly. Charles’ cousin Ed has died, leaving behind a seven-year-old son, Steven, that Charles had never known about. Mary Ellen and Charles are the nearest relatives. Would they be interested in possibly adopting Steven?
The Hawleys have one child, two-year-old Margaret. They long for more children, but Mary Ellen has had several miscarriages. Will Steven be the answer to their prayers?
But Steven comes with baggage. His mother, an emigree from Poland, is schizophrenic, and Steven’s father has been too lenient with the boy, taking him to rock concerts and allowing him to watch inappropriate movies on TV. In the end, though, the Hawleys feel it’s their duty to adopt Steven rather than keep him in foster care, and a few months later the little boy is theirs.
Margaret, the Hawleys’ daughter, loves her new big brother, even though he stares at the grandfather clock as if it’s speaking to him and wakes her with his nightmares. At Steven’s instigation, they complete a “blood pact” to make them “real” siblings and Margaret keeps Steven’s secrets.
Megan comes into Steven’s life when they meet at Ma Fischer’s restaurant, where they both work the evening shift. College-girl Megan sees only a handsome, kind, and considerate young man, a few years older than her; she doesn’t know that he’s been through alcohol and drug rehab, is diagnosed as bipolar, and sometimes has breakdowns during the manic phase of the illness. Soon they’re spending nights in each other’s apartments, and this leads to an unwanted pregnancy for Megan.
But there’s another woman in Steven’s life, his birth mother Beatrycze, whom he hasn’t seen since he was seven years old. The Hawleys forbid her from visiting because of the depth of her schizophrenia. Still, she’s “present” in Steven’s due to the stories she told the small boy about life in the Krakow ghetto during World War II and convinces him a mysterious young man called “The Bicycle Messenger,” a fixture in the ghetto, is still in his life.
Steven is so enamored with this thought that when he goes through a manic phase shortly after Megan finds out about her pregnancy, he buys a plane ticket to Poland to find out the truth. His parents find him there after much searching and worry, but when they return home with him, Megan is gone. While Steven patches together his life, Megan is back home in Ohio to wait out her pregnancy and give the baby up for adoption. But she has told Steven’s mother, who agrees to keep Megan’s secret from her son in his current manic state. It is a secret they both keep for many years, for neither of them knows how Steven will react. If he knew, would he want to raise the child as his own, even though he’s not well enough to do so?
Spanning over eighty years, from the Krakow ghetto during World War II to contemporary Milwaukee, this well researched novel encompasses many secrets and contains many twists and turns that leave the reader wondering what will happen next. When the secrets are finally exposed, the twists and turns answered, the ending brought tears to my eyes. The reader will also feel a sense of well-being at the conclusion of Joan Elizabeth Bauer’s debut novel The Bicycle Messenger.
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Reviewer’s Bio: I have enjoyed writing since I was a child. Finally, after teaching for thirty-five years, I got back to writing when I retired from teaching, and took many classes through the writing programs at UW-Madison. Since that program closed, I've taken classes online through various sources (in- and out-of-state conferences, websites, Zoom programs, etc.) to improve my skills. I write primarily historical fiction but also have done a few contemporary pieces. Novels are what I enjoy writing most, but lately short stories are grabbing my attention! I'll be looking to publish something soon, but so far just love spending time with my computer and my imagination, writing.
