One phone call. Three days. A lifetime of questions.
When Lee Fenton receives a call from the ex-girlfriend he’s never forgotten, he’s pulled back to Woodbury, Kentucky—his hometown, now a place both familiar and strangely foreign. His father lies in the hospital, his mother is slipping into the early stages of dementia, and his ex has a teenage daughter who could be his child.
Over the course of three tumultuous days, Lee confronts a life he thought he’d left behind, navigating family, lost love, and the townspeople who never let go. Counting the Days is a moving exploration of the joys and sorrows of growing up and growing older, the passage of time, and the bittersweet longing to return home.

Praise for Counting the Days

“Counting the Days is an extraordinary magic trick, a slim volume that somehow harbors all the big, catastrophic emotions of real life. Russell writes in a masterful shorthand that brings to mind Denis Johnson, Mary Robison, and Jo Ann Beard—dark and sad and very funny. It makes you think the novella is the perfect form.”

—J. Robert Lennon, author of Buzz Kill

“Josh Russell’s Counting the Days chronicles a homecoming like no other. It was a deep pleasure to live with his all-too-human characters as they struggle—with poignancy, tenderness, and humor—to solve an insoluble dilemma. A beautiful and original tale!”

—Steve Stern, author of A Fool’s Kabbalah

“Counting the Days is a fast, funny, and utterly convincing story about a guy reaching for the light of redemption from the shadow of his mistakes. Josh Russell’s brilliance is in making this read effortlessly, and in making it, ultimately, about us.”

—Patrick Ryan, author of Buckeye