Overview

The town of Whistle Pig, like the mountains that surround it, can appear unchanging, as immutable as geography. The lives of the characters in the linked stories in Patricia Henley's Apple & Palm contrast with that predictability. After vowing he'd never go home to Appalachia, DJ Diggs returns from Chicago to his family of origin after a Pride Prom fire that leaves his niece disfigured; Roxy, a centenarian, convinces her grandson's pregnant wife to move into the artist's co-op; Ham Zebrak and Adele Pratt, an elderly pair, spend the night together trying to stir up the ghost of sexual chemistry. Apple & Palm is a provocative close-up examination of aging, memory, and desire.

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9781968148218

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Reviews

""Stirring . . . Henley's tales remain finely attuned to the characters' discomforts, desires, and moments of revelation amidst social expectations."" -Booklist ""Henley is .... a Mistress of the short story craft and her mastery of the genre not only glistens, it tugs at heart and mind. Apple & Palm-a literal intersection in Whistle Pig-is a place that defies pervasive stereotypes that typecast rural Americans as less educated and more conservative than their urban counterparts....Flawed but fully human, [her characters] both inspire and entertain."" -Turned Page Review ""Subtle, nuanced, and masterfully told."" -Andrew Porter, author of The Imagined Life ""We have all stood at the intersection of Apple & Palm, but only Patricia Henley could deliver such involving, heartening, memorable stories about what happened there and beyond."" -Jo-Anne Mapson, author of The Return of Lindsay Moon ""These deeply atmospheric, sensuous, richly textured stories have a Winesburgian feel. Wonderfully imagined and compassionately told, Apple & Palm acts like a dark mirror: it holds our gaze."" -Joan Frank, author of Juniper Street ""A salty, earned wisdom pervades Apple & Palm. Nothing is clean-cut or predictable; life is suitably messy. The urgency in these pages is both palpable and eloquent. A masterful collection that will surprise and charm the reader."" -Rob Davidson, author of Welcome Back to the World

Author Information

Patricia Henley is the author of three novels, five collections of stories, two chapbooks of poetry, and a stage play. Her first novel, Hummingbird House (1999), was a finalist for the National Book Award and The New Yorker Fiction Prize, and her first story collection, Friday Night at Silver Star (1986), won the Montana First Book Award. She lives in Kingston, Washington.

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