In “After Elise,” her second novel, Denise Pattiz Bogard joins the ranks of homegrown writers who actually mention local places such as Schnucks, Forest Park and Ted Drewes as the weave their narratives. 

Bogard wrote a version of “After Elise” (The Ardent Writer Press, $17.95, paper) 13 years ago as the thesis for her master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The book’s central character, Teri, a housewife and mother of two, has her otherwise placid suburban life shattered forever one rainy night while driving on Olive Boulevard when she notices a car and driver in distress.

The car’s hood is up and its driver, the Elise of the title, is standing next to it, forlorn and waving while drenched to the bone. Fully intending to do the right thing and help the woman, Teri gets distracted when her “purse began to ring.” Not paying attention, she winds up striking and killing Elise.  

Bogard describes Teri’s family as “living in a fragile house of cards” as she mines what happens to Teri when her life is permanently changed in an instant.

Bogard, 63, has had a full and busy career as a writer. One of her several local writing gigs was as an associate editor of the Jewish Light. She also worked for 15 years in public relations until she reached self-described burnout.  

As she  considered how best to use her writing talents in a more meaningful way, she researched and wrote “The Middle Step” (High Hill Press, $18.99), about a white Jewish woman teaching disadvantaged kids in north St. Louis. It was published in 2015, a year after the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson and its violent aftermath. That first published novel was well-received by fellow writers and book reviewers locally and nationally.

Both of Bogard’s children with her husband, Rob, a lawyer, are now raising kids of their own. Having additional time caused her to search for her almost-forgotten master’s thesis manuscript.

As she showed in “The Middle Step,” Bogard is adept at catching subtle changes in the dynamics of relationships among her characters and their spouses, children and friends. In fact, the story in “After Elise” is so vividly rendered that Bogard has had to make it clear that it is indeed a work of fiction: She was not involved in a life-changing fatal accident that turned her life upside down.

Bogard admits that writing is a laborious task for her. She prepared extensively for both books, but especially in reviving “After Elise,” by consulting therapists, lawyers and other experts who could help her navigate her characters’ challenges.

Like Bogard, her protagonist in “After Elise,” Terianna “Teri” Meyer Berger, is Jewish. Naturally, she turns to her mother, Carly, for reassurance that she handled her crisis appropriately after striking Elise.

“I did the right thing, didn’t I, Mom?” Teri asks. Her mother grasped her hand and “squeezed so hard Teri winced.”  

 The interactions among Teri, her daughter and her mother are rendered compellingly, with a combination of strong emotions interspersed with sardonic humor. 

Similarly, when Teri visits Rabbi Feldman for advice, she feels a sense of trepidation. She admits that while she loves being connected to Yiddish, “the whole idea of organized religion seemed bizarre.”

Bogard writes:  “Soundless lips shaping private pleas in a public setting. Rabbis, with deep booming voices, telling congregants when to stand, when to sit, and when to pray as though they were the conduit to God.”   

The visit to Rabbi Feldman is especially challenging because he had buried Elise.

There are some harrowing scenes in “After Elise,” the  cover of which depicts overturned gravestones at the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City. Teri must endure the collective grief over the loss that made the funeral necessary.

Ultimately, Teri must learn to forgive herself for the fleeting instant that took another person’s life and altered her own forever.

Bogard’s readers will be grateful that she retrieved her old master’s thesis and saw it through to publication. Even though the main event of the story is depicted in the opening pages, the novel still turns out to be a page turner. 

We learn that there is much more to both Teri and Elise than the tragic accident. Elise’s options are cut short, but Teri must find renewed meaning and redemption if she is to move forward on her journey.

Along the way, she finds a safe path to replace that rain-slicked Olive Boulevard that took the life of Elise Horowitz and brought renewed meaning and hope to Teri’s life and that of her family.