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The Past
  • Published: 15 July 2016
  • ISBN: 9780099597469
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $29.99

The Past

Formats & editions
Paperback
15 July 2016
EBook
3 Sept 2015
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Rivalry, unruly desire and ugly secrets poison a family holiday in Tessa Hadley’s latest novel


Rivalry, unruly desire and ugly secrets poison a family holiday in this gripping novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Free Love and Late in the Day.

'Few writers give me such consistent pleasure' Zadie Smith

Four siblings meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. But under the idyllic surface lie shattering tensions.

Roland has come with his new wife, and his sisters don't like her. Fran has brought her children, who soon uncover an ugly secret in a ruined cottage in the woods. Alice has invited Kasim, an outsider, who makes plans to seduce Roland's teenage daughter. And Harriet, the eldest, finds her quiet self-possession ripped apart when passion erupts unexpectedly.

Over the course of the holiday, a familiar way of life falls apart forever.

'Exquisite' The Times

'Wonderful' Guardian

'Magnificent' Sunday Times
  • Published: 15 July 2016
  • ISBN: 9780099597469
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $29.99
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About the author

Tessa Hadley

Tessa Hadley is the author of eight highly praised novels: Accidents in the Home, which was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, Everything Will Be All Right, The Master Bedroom, The London Train, Clever Girl, The Past, Late in the Day and Free Love, and four collections of stories: Sunstroke, Married Love, Bad Dreams and After the Funeral. She won the Windham Campbell Prize for Fiction in 2016, The Past won the Hawthornden Prize for 2016 and she has twice been awarded the Edge Hill Short Story Prize, for 2018 and for 2024. Her stories appear regularly in the New Yorker.

portrait photo of Tessa Hadley

Also by Tessa Hadley

Late in the Day
Free Love
After the Funeral
Accidents in the Home
The Party
Bad Dreams and Other Stories
Clever Girl
See all

Praise for The Past

Tessa Hadley recruits admirers with each book. She writes with authority, and with delicacy: she explores nuance, but speaks plainly; she is one of those writers a reader trusts.

Hilary Mantel

A classy, observant page turner.

Woman and Home

Tessa Hadley excels at presenting the contrasting viewpoints of children, teenagers and adults, and her evocative descriptions of the English countryside are a delight.

Anthony Gardner, Mail on Sunday

Tessa Hadley has become one of this country’s great contemporary novelists. She is equipped with an armoury of techniques and skills that may yet secure her a position as the greatest of them.

Anthony Quinn, Guardian

Sharply delicate.

Cathy Rentzenbrink, Stylist

Tender and well-made and poignant, it is a gentle delight.

Cressida Connolly, Oldie

Masterly yet understated fiction.

Lucy Scholes, Independent