Highlighting How We Came to Be
Contributing writer Laura Brackin writes about award-winning author of A Good Girl Johnnie Bernhard’s new book, How We Came to Be, coming soon from Texas Review Press.
Meet Karen. She is a middle aged high school English teacher who finds herself struggling with life matters she never saw for herself as a young woman. As a divorcee, Karen adopts and raises her niece alone after her brother dies, and now Tiffany has had to drop out of her first year of college in Austin and come back home. While Karen struggles to connect with Tiffany and find common ground regarding her situation, she is adjusting to a new man in her life. Matt seems to be everything she wants, but it’s been so long since she’s been in a relationship that Karen has to figure out where exactly he fits in her life. She has been happy to keep to herself, alone with her bottle, but loneliness and isolation become too much, and she is forced to find a way to open up to possibilities she had thought may never come to her again.
How We Came to Be is the journey of one woman who finds that being fifty doesn’t mean that life is over. In fact, new friendships, the shifting relationship with her adopted daughter, and budding romance show her that life can be exciting at any age. She also comes to understand that her relationship with herself is one that needs love and nurturing, which may be the greatest lesson of all.
Look for the release of Johnnie Bernhard’s book, How We Came to Be, this spring.
Laura Brackin is a student at Sam Houston State University where she studies in the MFA program for Creative Writing, Editing, and Publishing. She works part time with the Texas Review Press and desires to work as an editor upon graduation, while also building a career as a prose writer. She lives in The Woodlands with her husband, two teenaged kids, and her English pointer.
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