Join us as local author Brooke Beyfuss walks us through her debut novel After We Were Stolen! 

After We Were Stolen, featured in Bustle magazine and the New York Journal of Books, is a coming-of-age drama wrapped in a psychological thriller. When nineteen-year-old Avery awakens to flames consuming her family’s remote compound in the woods she knows it’s her only chance to escape. Raised in a survivalist cult, Avery has spent her entire life enduring bizarre rituals and harsh punishments, but things recently took a much darker turn. With the fire  at their heels, she and her brother Cole flee the grounds for the first time, suddenly homeless in a world they know nothing about. When a botched shoplifting attempt gets them picked up by police, a shocking discovery is made—one that unravels everything they thought was true. Cole is immediately snatched from  Avery’s grip, and she must discover what really happened the night of the fire in order to find her brother and save both of their lives.

Brooke Beyfuss is a freelance writer who lives in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey with her husband, daughter, and far, far too many pets. She graduated from Rutgers University with a BA in psychology and comparative literature, despite failing pre-calculus three times in a row. As a freelance writer, her audiences have run the gamut from holistic healers to adult entertainers. After We Were Stolen is her first novel.