The Past Is Never: A Novel

· Sold by Simon and Schuster
4.4
22 reviews
Ebook
284
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

**WINNER of the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction**
**WINNER of the Mississippi Author Award for Adult Fiction selected by the Mississippi Library Association**
**WINNER of the 2019 Mississippi Institute of Arts & Letters Award for Fiction​**
**​WINNER of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize ​for Fiction**
**Finalist for the 2019 Colorado Book Awards for Literary Fiction***

"An ode to William Faulkner. . . . As Southern as it gets."—Deep South Magazine 


A compelling addition to contemporary Southern Gothic fiction, deftly weaving together local legends, family secrets, and the search for a missing child.
Siblings Bert, Willet, and Pansy know better than to go swimming at the old rock quarry. According to their father, it's the Devil's place, a place that's been cursed and forgotten. But Mississippi Delta summer days are scorching hot and they can't resist cooling off in the dark, bottomless water. Until the day six-year-old Pansy vanishes. Not drowned, not lost . . . simply gone. When their father disappears as well, Bert and Willet leave their childhoods behind to try and hold their broken family together.

Years pass with no sign, no hope of ever finding Pansy alive, and as surely as their mother died of a broken heart, Bert and Willet can't move on. So when clues surface drawing them to the remote tip of Florida, they drop everything and drive south. Deep in the murky depths of the Florida Everglades they may find the answer to Pansy's mysterious disappearance . . . but truth, like the past, is sometimes better left where it lies.

Perfect for fans of Flannery O'Connor and Dorothy Allison, The Past Is Never is an atmospheric, haunting story of myths, legends, and the good and evil we carry in our hearts.

Ratings and reviews

4.4
22 reviews
KATHY HIPPS
June 5, 2021
I absolutely loved this book.It was a beautiful story of love and loss,family ties and fear .This author managed to bring the gulf and all the characters to life .I could not put it down .I hope to see more from this author.
Did you find this helpful?
Bec Mc
August 25, 2020
engaging 08/24/2020
Did you find this helpful?
Clarence Cannon
May 7, 2019
Wow
Did you find this helpful?

About the author

Tiffany Quay Tyson teaches writing at Denver's renowned Lighthouse Writers Workshop. Her writing has been compared to Southern fiction titans like Flannery O'Connor and her first book, Three Rivers (Thomas Dunne, 2015), was a finalist for the Mississippi Institute for Arts and Letters Award for Fiction and also the Colorado Book Award for Literary Fiction. Though she grew up in Mississippi, she now resides in Denver, CO.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.