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.
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. Wallace Stegner considered it "one of the two best first novels I have ever read".
The story is about a young, psychologically vulnerable woman, Peyton Loftis, who experiences her dysfunctional Virginia family as emotionally remote and oppressive, and who ultimately kills herself. The story is told partly in a stream-of-consciousness narrative.
Styron incorporated many actual portions of his home town, the Hilton Village section of Newport News, Virginia. Much of the story's narrative occurs at the James River Country Club, which is still in operation today.