But when I was a child, I wanted to find books that reflected that in some way.

Now I know to call it grief and I have a language for it. So around 9, I was kind of forced to reckon with this loss that I didn't know how to categorize at the time. But she had just left and she was existing somewhere else.

Because she didn't die - it wasn't like I could really have any closure with that grief. And so I was dealing with this grief of this really confusing loss. But mainly when I was 9, my mother left and she didn't come back. I was raised by two alcoholic parents and all of the trauma and stress that comes with that. But 'leaning in to some of the things that might be coming up during this time can be valuable, too,' Bieker says. Of course, there's time to watch Netflix - we all have to find the balance that's right for us. 'Art can help me ask the difficult questions of myself and then try to answer them.' 'I believe that fiction asks us to turn toward the difficult parts in our own lives and our own selves to try to find some sort of grace. But Bieker believes this difficult time of quiet and isolation is an invitation to look at ourselves in new ways. Narrator Lacey May is 14 years old when her mother abandons her.īieker understands that, at a time when readers are facing real world fears about coronavirus, it might feel like an odd moment to immerse oneself in a fictional world of drought, chaos and childhood trauma. In Bieker's debut novel Godshot, a devastating drought in a fictional California town has led residents to seek answers in a charismatic cult leader. 'It didn't feel like I was so isolated - it made my experience feel more universal,' she says. Whenever she found those stories, she says it felt healing, cathartic - a release. 'Growing up, I was hungry for narratives that were tackling some of the things that I was experiencing and feeling,' she recalls. How?Ĭhelsea Bieker's mother left when she was 9 years old. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Godshot Author Chelsea Bieker

Chelsea bieker