Lie Down in Darkness

• Book ID: 107227642
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media LLC
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 2 MB
• Category: Standards

✦ Synopsis

Lie Down in Darkness is a 1951 novel by American novelist William Styron. It was his first novel, written when he was 26 years old, and received a great deal of critical acclaim. After his 1947 graduation, Styron took an editing position with McGraw-Hill in New York City. After provoking his employers into firing him, he set about writing his first novel in earnest. Three years later, he published the novel, Lie Down in Darkness. Styron had first written the book under the title "An Inheritance of Night". He made two revisions of the draft before publishing it under its eventual title. Among the honors bestowed on Lie Down in Darkness was the prestigious Rome Prize, awarded by the American Academy in Rome and the American Academy of Arts and Letters . Styron was unable to immediately accept the award because he was recalled into the military because of the Korean War. The story is about the dysfunctional Virginian Loftis family, and is centered on the funeral of Peyton Loftis, with previous events told in flashbacks by the other characters. The young, psychologically vulnerable daughter, Peyton Loftis, although attached to her father, finds her mother emotionally remote and oppressive; she ultimately kills herself. Her mother, Helen, has given all her love to her crippled daughter, Maudie, leaving no affection for Peyton or her husband Milton, who finds solace in a shallow mistress. Helen comes to loathe her spoiled and beautiful daughter whom she characterises as a whore. Milton adores Peyton, turning to alcohol as he is spurned by Helen and as Peyton slips away from the family circle. Peyton's marriage is a disaster and she eventually commits suicide. The penultimate section of the story is conveyed in a stream of consciousness style by Peyton herself. In the last section, a brilliant recreation of a revivalist meeting, it is suggested that only the Loftis family's black servants may experience genuine mourning for Peyton. Styron incorporated many actual portions of his home town, the Hilton Village section of Newport News, Virginia. The character of Helen contains some elements of Styron's own stepmother. Part of the story's narrative occurs at the James River Country Club, which is still in operation today.

✦ Subjects

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