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Henry Wise Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Henry Wise
Photo by Lisa Damico

Henry Wise

Henry Wise Biography

Henry Wise is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and the University of Mississippi MFA Program. His work has appeared in Shenandoah, Nixes Mate, Radar Poetry, Clackamas, and elsewhere. Holy City is his first novel.

Henry Wise's website

This bio was last updated on 06/26/2024. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.

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Interview

Writer and editor Jenny Bartoy in conversation with the author about his novel, Holy City, for CrimeReads.

Jenny Bartoy: The theme of home pervades this story. Will returns home where a variety of ghosts and guilts await him. For several of the characters, home is fraught — whether that home is a house, a family, a culture, a county. Can you tell me more about how you played with this theme?

Henry Wise: Will's got a foot in two different worlds, so he doesn't really belong entirely anywhere. He's held suspect in what he considers his home. He returns to it and it's not what he expected entirely. And he's got a foot in Richmond, he's been there for 10 years, but he doesn't really belong in Richmond either. This idea of inner division between urban and rural Virginia, and how he doesn't really belong in either place — that sort of ended up controlling a lot of the narrative. You know, Thomas Wolfe said, "You can't go home again," but what happens when you do? What happens when you try to get back in touch? Drug use is a theme in the story, and Will is not a drug addict, but returning home in a way is almost like a relapse. He probably shouldn't go back if he knows what's good for him. But he does. There's this thing that's pulling him. We think of "Home is where the heart is," and "There's no place like home." But what if home...

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Books by this Author

Books by Henry Wise at BookBrowse
Holy City jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Henry Wise but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • S. A. Cosby

    S. A. Cosby

    S.A. Cosby is the New York Times national bestselling award-winning author from Southeastern Virginia. His books include My Darkest Prayer, Blacktop Wasteland, Amazon's #1 Mystery and Thriller of the Year and #3 Best Book of ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Holy City

    Try:
    All the Sinners Bleed
    by S. A. Cosby

  • Jonathan Kellerman

    Jonathan Kellerman

    Jonathan Kellerman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than forty crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher's Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, True Detectives, and The... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Holy City

    Try:
    The Murder Book
    by Jonathan Kellerman

We recommend 3 similar authors

View all 3 Read-Alikes

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