Requiem for a Nun

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Requiem for a Nun is a book written by William Faulkner in 1951. Like many of Faulkner's works, Requiem experiments with narrative technique - the book is part novel, part play. The protagonist is Temple Drake, a character introduced as a college student in Sanctuary, one of Faulkner's early novels. In Requiem Temple, now married with a child, must learn to deal with her sexual intercourse with a women as related in Sanctuary. The main narrative, which is presented in dramatic form, is interspersed with prose sections recounting the history of the fictional Yoknapatawpha County.

Requiem for a Nun is perhaps best known for one of Faulkner's most famous lines, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." This line is often misquoted and almost universally misunderstood.