by Will Allison
First published 2007
On the day he buries his wife, Wylie Greer drives five-year-old Holly to her grandfather's dairy farm outside Columbia, South Carolina. He promises he just needs time to think. Thirty years pass before Holly sees him again. She spends those decades wondering what she did wrong and how she might bring him back. The story follows father and daughter as they navigate the gulf between them, questioning whether their fractured bond can be repaired. Around them move a cast of flawed characters: a grandfather planning his own death, a female NASCAR pioneer, an amnesiac nursing a broken heart, and a video poker addict. Each struggles with their own failures and disappointments. Allison shifts between perspectives and time periods to explore how parents pass their emotional wounds to their children. The novel asks hard questions about family patterns, the difference between surrender and acceptance, and whether deception can protect love. Through humor and clear-eyed compassion for human frailty, the story examines how loss shapes identity and whether forgiveness remains possible across decades of hurt.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, relationships, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: estranged-family, redemption, second-chance
Setting: Columbia, South Carolina
Period: Thirty Years
240 pages · Kindle Edition · Free Press