Publisher's Synopsis
In a small, rural community in Michigan, a child's innocence is shattered. A decade of abuse carried out at the hands of his parents is hidden behind the idyllic façade of the American dream. As the child grows, riding a bike becomes one of his few escapes...a fleeting glimpse of freedom and joy in a life otherwise clouded in darkness and shame.
When the abuse ends, the scars remain. As the child approaches adulthood, he turns to drugs, alcohol, and adrenaline to numb the pain. Memories of the abuse are locked away behind a thin wall, constantly threatening to surface as the young man struggles to cope. Decades later, now with a family of his own and deep into alcohol addiction, the man again turns to his bike to help him deal with the pain. But the drinking and intense cycling will not suppress his childhood ghosts forever. Eventually he finds the strength to battle the demons that have plagued him for so many years. The bike, once a method of coping, becomes a tool for healing. With each turn of the wheel, the spokes begin to repair as he reclaims his life by facing his tormented past, beating addiction, and learning to live without shame. The Broken Spoke is the story of one man's determination to confront his childhood monsters and finally heal. It never gets easy; you just get stronger.
