A finalist for the National Book Award, Lie Down in Darkness centers on the Loftis family?Milton and Helen and their daughters, Peyton and Maudie. The story, told through a series of flashbacks on the day of Peyton?s funeral, is a powerful depiction of a family doomed by its failure to forget and its inability to love. Written in masterful prose that ?achieves real beauty? (The Washington Post), William 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.