The Reading Bud

Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Elizabeth Jaeger for their latest release, Stolen: Love and Loss in the Time of COVID-19.

Book: Stolen: Love and Loss in the Time of COVID-19
Author: Elizabeth Jaeger
Publication Date: September 16, 2025
Genres: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Page Count: 275pages
Publisher: Unsolicited Press

About the Book

When the world first went into lockdown, on a lark, Jaeger started a blog. Then, on Day 12, the unimaginable happened. Her dad got sick and she rushed him to the hospital. What followed was a close look at what it was like to watch a loved one suffer from COVID. After a nineteen day battle, her father died and the family was stricken with grief. But grieving during the pandemic was drastically different than in a time of normalcy. There were no funerals. No religious services. No ability to mingle with friends. Just the heavy feeling of loss, which at times was suffocating. Stolen: Love and Loss in the Time of COVID-19 captures life in New York City – the constant sound of sirens, the new graves dug daily, the eerie silence and desolation of local playgrounds – the epicenter of the virus. In flashbacks throughout the narrative, vignettes illustrate her dad in happier times-a doting father, an adoring grandfather, a man who always put family first. It depicts encountering COVID up close and places it in a political and personal context. While the story is about one family, it is not unique. COVID touched everyone’s lives and many endured a similar experience.

You can find Stolen: Love and Loss in the Time of COVID-19 here:
Amazon | Goodreads

About The Author

Elizabeth Jaeger

Stolen: Love and Loss in the Time of COVID-19 is Elizabeth Jaeger’s first book. Her essays, short stories, book reviews, and poetry have been published in various print and online journals, including Margate Bookie, Caustic Frolic, The Blue Nib, Capsule Stories, Watchung Review, Ovunque Siamo, and Italian Americana.  Newtown Literary published “The Treehouse,” which is a chapter from her novel in progress. Jaeger earned an MFA in creative writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University and an MA in history from William Paterson University.

You can find author Jaeger here:
Author Website | Instagram | TikTok

If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com