About: Lie Down in Darkness (novel)

Lie Down in Darkness is the first novel by American novelist William Styron, published in 1951. Written when he was 26 years old, the novel received a great deal of critical acclaim. After graduating from Duke University in 1947, 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 working title Inheritance of Night; he made two revisions of the draft before publishing it under its eventual title.