First published to wide critical acclaim in 1951, Lie Down in Darknesscenters on the Loftis family--Milton and Helen and their daughters, Peyton and Maudie. The story, told through a series of flashbacks on theday of Peyton's funeral, is a powerful depiction of a family doomed by its failure to forget and its inability to love.

Writtenin masterful prose, Styron's debut novel offers unflinching insight into the ineradicable bonds of place and family. The story of Milton, Helen, and their children reveals much about life's losses and disappointments. Lie Down in Darkness, poignant and compelling, is aclassic of modern American literature.

Thisebook features a new illustrated biography of William Styron, includingoriginal letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from theStyron family and the Duke University Archives.

William Styron (1925-2006), born in Newport News, Virginia, was one of the greatest American writers of his generation. Styron published his first book, Lie Down in Darkness, at age twenty-six and went on to write such influential works as the controversial and Pulitzer Prize-winning The Confessions of Nat Turner and the international bestseller Sophie's Choice.