Joanna Niewoehner (adopted as a Harper, but returned to using her birth last name) is a character from the ONtv series, Harpers Falls and Harpers Falls: New Beginnings. She was originated by Ashley Jones, who currently plays Astrid McIntyre on HF; New Beginnings; and is currently played by actress Arianne Zucker.
A young Joanna Niewoehner had never realized what her life would be like when she was adopted as a four year old girl by Erica Harper. While she loved her mother, Joanna had no idea of what to make of her mercurial mood swings and her constant need for winning approval from her family. While she never understood her mother's mood swings, Joanna made a name for herself in the family without her mother's help. She also held on to a cherished family picture which was of her parents and her sister, Cara.
She also bonded with her adopted brother, Mark, although the two were studies in contrast. Mark was more out in the open and was proud about the Harper name, while Joanna, who had always been kind of behind the scenes, loved being in the background. To that end, Joanna tended to bond more with her cousin, Rosemary Harper Wilson, who was just as shy as she was.
For a number of years, Joanna was a prison guard at the Harpers Falls Law Enforcement Center. She had to deal with many trying prisoners, most notably, Molly Wainwright. whom she outright despised. Her biggest heartbreak would come at the hands of her own mother.
Erica had gone off the rails, and had been behaving horridly, especially towards Joanna's cousin, Hannah. Erica had been trying to snare Hannah's daughter, Maggie, due to what she had done. (She had ordered her husband, Nigel, to impregnate Hannah, and that earned her the enmity of both of her children)
Upon hearing about the death of their mother, Joanna and Mark arrived from Europe. Joanna has moved into a place nearby Beacon Hill; while Mark also has remained in Boston, continuing his work as a model, with his aunt Samantha Harper helping him out as his manager.
Joanna is stunned to realize that Cara, now all grown up and a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, is living in Boston, and the two are reconnecting after years of being apart. Joanna immediately opened her home and her heart to Cara and she now revels in the fact she and her sister are together again.
However, now rumors are flying about that Erica is alive again, and out for more trouble. Cara and Joanna as well as Mark and the rest of the Harper family are on the watch for any news of their troublemaking relative. Due to her mother's callous behavior. Joanna has retaken her birth name of Niewoehner, and now goes by the full name of Joanna Niewoehner Harper.
At present, Joanna is helping Cara with their brother, Mark, who was paralyzed in the vicious Boston Marathon bombings. While they are thankful that he wasn't killed, they despair the fact that Erica was nowhere around when the son she said she loved was injured. This may prove to be the final straw for Joanna, Cara and Mark and could well be the thing that breaks them from Erica for good.
With the realization that Erica, finally having been forced out of Beacon Hill for good, Joanna, Cara and Mark can now fully begin to heal from the emotional wounds that she had inflicted on them. Her adopted mother's antics have so disgusted Joanna, that she talked with the family and decided to retain the use of her birth last name of Niewoehner, but everyone still considers her a Harper.
Joanna finally had enough of Erica when she callously ran down her cousin Hannah Harper Atchley in cold blood in the full of the day in full view of everyone in Louisburg Square. Erica was finally taken to prison for the rest of her life, and while she did repent, she was murdered herself by another prisoner who had found out about her kidnapping of a child.
Joanna doesn't miss her late adopted mother, but she understands that she did repent. She and Cara are bonded more than ever before.