Firefly Southern Fiction is an imprint of LPCBooks
a division of Iron Stream Media
100 Missionary Ridge, Birmingham, AL 35242
ShopLPC.com
Copyright © 2021 by Eva Marie Everson
All rights reserved. First printing 2021.
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Iron Stream Media serves its authors as they express their views, which may not express the views of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are all products of the author’s imagination or are used for fictional purposes. Any mentioned brand names, places, and trademarks remain the property of their respective owners, bear no association with the author or the publisher, and are used for fictional purposes only.
Scripture quotations from The Authorized (King James) Version.
Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Cover design by Elaina Lee
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021930332
ISBN-13: 978-1-64526-309-8
E-book ISBN: 978-1-64526-310-4
PRAISE FOR DUST
From the first word to the last I was enthralled with this story. Everson’s love-story-through-time will appeal to every reader who cheers when love triumphs. This is Everson at her best.
~Rachel Hauck
New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Dress
Author Eva Marie Everson’s characters in Dustare flawed, their choices, both good and bad, intersecting and influencing each other’s lives. Everson’s layered southern family drama reveals the complexities of relationships and the unexpected and sometimes painful consequences of our choices. While we might regret how what we say and do affects others, with every turn of the page Everson reminds readers of a vital truth: life doesn’t have to be perfect to be good.
~Beth K. Vogt
Christy award-winning author of the Thatcher Sisters series
What is one life worth? Eva Marie Everson’s Dust takes the readers on a slow, Southern, and yes, dusty journey through several decades as we watch the lives of her characters intermingle amidst the little and big tragedies, heartaches, and celebrations of life. With breathtaking, sometimes sensual prose, Everson explores romantic love in all its passion and brokenness as the characters make choices whose consequences bleed into other lives for generations. A thought-provoking and soul-stirring story.
~Elizabeth Musser
author of The Swan House Series
Allison meets Westley as a callow girl and enters their marriage on the wings of starry-eyed optimism. It is the 1970's, and Westley has kept a secret that impacts the years to come. In a web of memorable characters who intersect profoundly, Dust is a novel of exquisite breadth and width, a soulful story of a woman coming into her own that shows us it is the seemingly ordinary life that is, in fact, extraordinary.
~Claire Fullerton
award-winning Author of Little Tea
Fans of Eva Marie Everson will rush to purchase her latest novel, Dust. A complex story line moves the story at a rapid pace which makes readers fall headlong into this page-turner. The characters remain with you long after the ending and you will find yourself thinking about them long after the final page. In Dust, Everson secures her place at the top of women's fiction.
~Renea Winchester
award-winning author of Outbound Train
Eva Marie Everson's novel Dust is a poignant story about family, not simply family defined by DNA. but the struggles, joys, and disappointments that bond us. These characters face challenges that ultimately determine who we really are and how we love one another.
~Christa Allen
award-winning author of Since You’ve Been Gone
Dust invites readers to dwell inside a story of hearts so vivid, one cannot help but smell the vintage-era scene in which they breathe. Eva Marie Everson sculpts each scene with emotional and relational authenticity. Every character rises with such profound realism from the pages, tears well for the fates of both hero and antihero. Everson deepens our compassion for those on various sides of life's dramatic struggles. Yet she also carries us from realistic pain points to address the ultimate existential question: meaning. As a therapist, I see the reflections of living souls in the eyes of Everson's characters. My only challenge in endorsing Dust lies in offering a recommendation with eloquence worthy of this author's extraordinary talent.
~Tina Yeager
LMHC, Award-winning author, Speaker Flourish-Meant Podcast Host, Life Coach
I didn’t write today. I read—all day. I didn’t cook today. I read—all day. I didn’t eat today. I read—all day. Dust, by Eva Marie Everson is an epic story. I loved it as much as I loved A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford. This is Everson’s best book ever!
~Ane Mulligan
bestselling author of Chapel Springs Revival
“How is it that our lives can be so affected by the decisions of others?” A question asked in Eva Marie Everson's book, Dust. Her amazing character development will make you wonder if you’ve met some of these people in your life. She takes you on a journey of love, loss, and everything in between. A must read and maybe even more than once.
~Edwina Perkins
Managing Editor, Harambee Press
Everson, at her page-turning, keep-you-reading-all-night best brings Dust to the world. She has penned a novel that intrigues, shell shocks, and keeps you guessing. She peels back and exposes the beauty and tragedy of everyday life. She draws in-depth psychological characters that pop in and out, leaving you reading until wee hours seeking them.
~Merilyn Howton Marriott, M.S., LPC
Award-winning author of The Children of Main Street
This is Eva Marie Everson's opus. I have read her books for years and this one takes story to a new level. Filled with characters whose personalities are so vivid, you feel as though you are peering over their shoulders, Everson wraps you tight in the drama of a family and how, even with good intentions, things can go awry. Everson's descriptions of the era make you long for the time you may have walked there. Dust is memorable. Dust is endearing. Dust cannot be wiped out of your mind at the
