The Deep Code – Charley Henley
China Grove Press
ISBN: 9781944106072
The Deep Code by Charley Henley – $20.00 in paperback
The landscapes of The Deep Code range from rural Mississippi to the deserts of New Mexico, the mountains of western Montana, and the tourist traps of the Florida Gulf Coast. These seven stories tell of desperation and perseverance in the face of generational struggles. In the title story, a recovering alcoholic tries to preserve what’s left of his fractured relationship with his son, while trying to free himself from another of his step-father’s get-rich-quick schemes. In “The Golden Horde of Mississippi” a young woman butts heads with her grandmother over the appropriate way to honor her dead, heavy-metal-loving cousin, while in “Escalation Dominance,” a former Los Alamos nuclear weapons scientist tries to embrace the child of her husband’s affair with a local hippie girl. With unflinching love, these stories explore characters bestowed with little more than the refusal to succumb to their own bad choices in life.
About the Author:
Born in Maryland, Charley Henley bounced around as a child, living everywhere from a backto- the-land community in Eastern Washington to rural Rankin County, Mississippi, disparate locales and people that have fueled the stories of this present volume. He attended the University of Montana, studying philosophy, working in restaurants, and wandering in the woods. He did his graduate work at the University of Alabama and Florida State University. His !ction has appeared in Best New American Voices, !e Greensboro Review, and Copper Nickel, among other journals. Currently, he lives with his wife and children in the Seattle area. He teaches at the University of Cincinnati. The Deep Code is his debut collection of short stories.