Meet Charley: Character Profile & Excerpt

Today we meet Charley in this first of six character profiles, which will introduce you to the group of friends in Beautiful & Terrible Things, about which Reedsy says:

“The six protagonists have the type of friendship that makes the Reader think, ‘I want to live in that city and be a part of that group.’ They are almost like the Friends gang, only more diverse and set in the 2020’s.”

Character Profile: Charley

Meet Charley Byrne: Charley is an introverted, superstitious 29-year-old white woman who manages City Books, an independent bookstore, and lives in an apartment above the store with her acquired cat Baggage.

What She Represents: Our fears

Personality in Brief: The Introvert

Personality in More Detail: Charley is kind, honest, smart, and funny when she lets her guard down. But she also has low self-esteem, suffers from undiagnosed depression, and believes a rigid routine will protect her from life’s pain. A series of tragedies have made her superstitious. She believes in a 7-year curse, and in “animal omens” – interpreting wildlife sightings as messages reflecting her life.

Her Challenges, Hopes & Dreams: When the book starts, Charley thinks she just wants to remain in her self-imposed social isolation, not getting close to anyone and therefore not bringing harm upon anyone. In truth, what she really desires is a family and friends. By the end, her hopes and dreams have changed considerably, but you’ll have to read the book to learn how!

What Others Say

How Her Friends Describe Her:

Xander: Charley was quite adorable, with brown bangs teasing her eyes and an upturned nose accented by a silver nose ring. Her alabaster skin was accented by a beauty mark that hovered under her full lips, and her emerald eyes—they would be stunning if they weren’t coated with self-doubt.

Terrance: Charley appeared made of porcelain with long silky hair and stunning eyes.

What Reviewers Say:

Charley Byrne’s world is a cocoon, spun from fear and solitude. (Sublime Book Review)

Charley’s depression is her oldest and truest companion, one she can’t seem to leave behind. (Indies Today)

A relatable character who we get to see change and grow in a beautiful way. (Award-winning author Leslie Rasmussen)

Stronger than she knows, and sometimes, doesn’t trust herself to make the right decision. (Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews)

A complex character… a woman with a troubled past who finds solace in the bookstore she manages. Her confidence, once robust, has waned, and she now seeks refuge in the store, her modest apartment, and a predictable routine that includes feeding the standoffish cat named Baggage. (AudioBookReviewer)

What Charley Herself Says

Quotable Quotes:

Charley couldn’t quiet the voice reminding her that making friends, forming relationships, maybe even loving people, was dangerous—for her and the others. She didn’t know why she was toxic. She could only guess it was somehow tied to her apparent inability to love in whatever was the right way.

“I don’t know why I’m still here.”

To Xander in The Wallace House of Pain: “I just don’t think you should waste a parent unless it’s truly a lost cause.”

Excerpt: Charley

This is actually the beginning of Beautiful and Terrible Things – Chapter 1:

Charley jerked her head away too late. The scramble of bloody fur on the asphalt imprinted itself on her brain as a shudder coursed through her body. She stopped jogging at the edge of the two-lane thoroughfare slicing through the heart of Founders Park, resisting the urge to flee past the carcass. Instead, she inched closer, feeling an obligation to acknowledge the damage and her potential role in it.

The squirrel lay on its back, mouth agape in a silent scream. A spot of red blossomed across the white canvas of its belly. She jumped as a passing breeze fluttered the wispy tail. Shuddering again, she embraced her torso, the internal heat from her morning run entirely dissipated.

“I’m so sorry, squirrel. I hope you don’t have babies at home who need you.”

At a loss for anything else to say or do, she moved on, crossing the street and continuing down the park trail. She broke into a fast jog, not to outrun the generous raindrops that had begun plunking on the trail, but to hasten her trip home so she could bury the roadkill image behind her rigid morning regimen.

Back in her bare apartment above City Books, she stopped in the bathroom to turn on the shower—number one—then hung her sweaty jogging shorts and tank top off the sides of the laundry basket in her bedroom—number two. Number three, while the water warmed, she pulled out black jeans and a short-sleeved top. By the time she scrubbed herself in the shower, dressed, pulled her long wet hair into a high messy bun, and scarfed down a bowl of cereal—numbers four through seven—the notion that she somehow bore responsibility for the squirrel had been temporarily tucked away in a protective recess of her mind.

Number eight, she brushed her teeth while the cat balanced on the side of the tub and watched. Number nine, she affixed her name tag to her shirt and ran her thumb back and forth over the word Charley before—number ten—collecting her keys and cell phone and heading downstairs to prepare the bookstore for opening.

***

Charley raised an eyebrow as she turned the dented doorknob of the store’s back entrance. Already open. Since Georgina promoted Charley to store manager of City Books last year, the owner rarely arrived first. Some days, it seemed Charley was the one in charge, which suited her fine since the shop was her home away from home or, to be exact, her home under her home.

“Happy birthday!” Georgina rasped from their small, shared office, holding out a chocolate muffin on a thin paper plate, a single lit candle precariously askew on top. Her ash-brown dyed curls bobbed as she nodded and grinned, exposing crooked, coffee-stained teeth.

Charley accepted the muffin and attempted to smile graciously. How, she reasoned, was Georgina to know that Charley’s twenty-ninth birthday was not one to be celebrated? Why would Georgina know that this year, Charley would exist in constant fear of the anvil hanging inches above her head, biding its time before plunging to flatten her for the fourth time? Georgina certainly couldn’t be expected to know that the universe presented Charley with a freshly slaughtered squirrel in the park that morning, a clear harbinger of another tragedy to come.

Charley blew out the candle and mumbled thanks.

“What are you doing to celebrate?” Georgina asked, smoker’s wrinkles pointing to her mouth from all directions.

Charley picked at the muffin’s wrapper, physically incapable of looking someone in the eye while lying. “Going out with friends, I think.”

“Good for you.” Georgina placed her leopard-print reading glasses on her nose and returned to her paperwork.

Charley took a pen from the desk and stuck it in her damp bun. She grabbed a notebook in one hand, balanced the muffin on its flimsy plate in the other, and headed for the front of the store.

Where to Buy

Beautiful and Terrible Things is available in paperback, ebook and audiobook, on all major sites. Click here to get to most of them; it’s also available on Walmart and Target.

Illustration credit: pinclipcart

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