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"…now, having written almost all of [Lie Down in Darkness], I can truthfully feel that I've not only written a novel but a good novel, perhaps even a really fine novel, and I hope it gives some pleasure…"–William Styron in a letter to his father, January 24, 1951

Ebook edition includes a recollection from Rose Styron.

William Styron’s stunning debut: a classic portrait of one Southern family’s tragic spiral into destruction.

First published to wide critical acclaim in 1951, 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, 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 a classic of modern American literature.

This ebook features a new illustrated biography of William Styron, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Styron family and the Duke University Archives.

“Brilliant… A triumph of characterization." —The New York Times

“Richly and poetically written.” —The Atlantic

“Achieves real beauty.” —The Washington Post

“Styron is a young writer of uncommon gifts.” —Associated Press

Styron’s provocative war novel: The story of two marine reservists’ rejection of the forced conformity of the military machine

In the shadow of the Korean War, a series of misfired mortar shells kill six men in a marine camp during a training exercise, prompting the commanding officer to order a grueling punishment: a thirty-six mile march through the suffocating heat of the Carolina summer. Intended to beat discipline into the aging reservists, the march instead rankles marines Culver and Mannix, whose growing resentment of the brutal trek leads to an ultimate, powerful act of rebellion.

Styron’s The Long March is a provocative war novel, in which two marine reservists struggle to maintain their humanity within the structure of the military machine. . Told in part through flashbacks and dream sequences, the story is immersed in vivid language and philosophical reflection—a poignant defense of the individual in the face of attempted dehumanization.

This ebook features video interviews with Styron’s family and biographer, as well as a new illustrated biography of William Styron, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Styron family and the Duke University Archives.

“[Styron] is the foremost writer of his generation.” —The Wall Street Journal

"Everybody who has read [Set This House on Fire] so far has been extremely enthusiastic, which of course makes me feel pretty good. I think it is a good book—better in many ways that anything I have done. At any rate, I have put my heart and soul into it, it is the best that I can do, and despite whatever reception it gets—good, bad or indifferent—I will have no regrets because I gave it everything I’ve got." —William Styron in a letter to his father, October 31, 1959

“One of the finest novels of our times.” —San Francisco Chronicle

Set This House on Fire is a story of evil and redemption involving three American men whose paths converge on a film shoot in Italy at the close of the 1940s. Shortly after Peter Leverett meets Mason Flagg in a small Italian village, a woman is found raped and murdered. The investigation soon centers on the mysterious circumstances involving Mason and an alcoholic painter named Cass Kingsolving. Peter’s attempts to uncover the true events of that fateful night will reveal the profound wickedness of one man and lead another on a path to absolution.

The novel features the rich prose, penetrating psychological insight, and moral complexity that define Styron’s works. Haunting and provocative, Set This House on Fire is a riveting exploration of sin and atonement set against the lushly crafted backdrops of Europe and the American South.

This ebook features a new illustrated biography of William Styron, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Styron family and the Duke University Archives.

“Immediately impressive.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Hair-raising.” —The Atlantic

“Rich, detailed, extremely powerful.” —Library Journal

The explosive 1967 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel: a gripping and unforgettable portrait of the leader of America’s bloodiest slave revolt.

The Confessions of Nat Turner is William Styron’s complex and richly drawn imagining of Nat Turner, the leader of the 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia that led to the deaths of almost sixty men, women, and children. Published at the height of the civil rights movement, the novel draws upon the historical Nat Turner’s confession to his attorney, made as he awaited execution in a Virginia jail. This powerful narrative, steeped in the brutal and tragic history of American slavery, reveals a Turner who is neither a hero nor a demon, but rather a man driven to exact vengeance for the centuries of injustice inflicted upon his people.

Nat Turner is a galvanizing portrayal of the crushing institution of slavery, and Styron’s deeply layered characterization is a stunning rendering of one man’s violent struggle against oppression.

This ebook features a new illustrated biography of William Styron, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Styron family and the Duke University Archives.

“Magnificent… A triumph.” —The New York Times

“A wonderfully evocative portrait.” —Book World

“A first-rate novel.” —The New York Review of Books

“Styron’s most impressive performance… Belongs on that small shelf reserved for American masterpieces.” —Washington Post Book World

Winner of the 1980 National Book Award, Sophie’s Choice is William Styron’s classic novel of love, survival, and regret, set in Brooklyn in the wake of the Second World War. The novel centers on three characters: Stingo, a sexually frustrated aspiring novelist; Nathan, his charismatic but violent Jewish neighbor; and Sophie, an Auschwitz survivor who is Nathan’s lover. Their entanglement in one another’s lives will build to a stirring revelation of agonizing secrets that will change them forever.

Poetic in its execution, and epic in its emotional sweep, Sophie’s Choice explores the good and evil of humanity through Stingo’s burgeoning worldliness, Nathan’s volatile personality, and Sophie’s tragic past. Mixing elements from Styron’s own experience with themes of the Holocaust and the history of slavery in the American South, the novel is a profound and haunting human drama. The result is Styron at the pinnacle of his literary brilliance.

This ebook features a new illustrated biography of William Styron, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Styron family and the Duke University Archives.

“Stunning… a triumph… A dazzling, gripping book.” —Chicago Sun Times

“Splendidly written, thrilling… A passionate novel.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A monumental work of fiction.” —The Christian Science Monitor

Profound and passionate essays from one of America’s greatest literary voices of the twentieth century.

This Quiet Dust is a compilation of William Styron’s nonfiction writings that confront significant moral questions with precision and vigor. He examines topics as diverse as the Holocaust, the American Dream, and the controversy that raged around his Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, The Confessions of Nat Turner. In each entry, Styron expertly wields his powers of insight to slice through the most complex issues.

This Quiet Dust offers a window into the philosophical underpinnings of Styron’s greatest novels and is the ideal entry for readers seeking a greater understanding into the work of one of America’s most celebrated authors.

This ebook features a new illustrated biography of William Styron, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Styron family and the Duke University Archives.

“Impressive…thoughtful, candid.” —The Christian Science Monitor

“A large sampling of Styron's distinctive, arresting prose.” —Book World

Styron’s stirring account of his plunge into a crippling depression, and his inspiring road to recovery.

In the summer of 1985, William Styron became numbed by disaffection, apathy, and despair, unable to speak or walk while caught in the grip of advanced depression. His struggle with the disease culminated in a wave of obsession that nearly drove him to suicide, leading him to seek hospitalization before the dark tide engulfed him.

Darkness Visible tells the story of Styron’s recovery, laying bare the harrowing realities of clinical depression and chronicling his triumph over the disease that had claimed so many great writers before him. His final words are a call for hope to all who suffer from mental illness that it is possible to emerge from even the deepest abyss of despair and “once again behold the stars.”

This ebook features a new illustrated biography of William Styron, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Styron family and the Duke University Archives.

“Compelling… a vivid portrait of a debilitating disorder… It offers the solace of shared experience.” —The New York Times

“Shocks us back to reality… A moving and authoritative account.” —Entertainment Weekly

Three autobiographically inspired novellas by Styron that tell the story of a young writer’s journey to adulthood

William Styron’s A Tidewater Morning features three novellas centered around budding novelist Paul Whitehurst’s coming of age during the Great Depression and Second World War. They convey Whitehurst’s struggle to cope with his mother’s terminal cancer, his view of the strained racial relations in the pre-war American South, and his anxiety as a marine preparing to land on the beaches of Okinawa.

Each novella weaves together the transformative experiences of Whitehurst’s early life with Styron’s signature deep historical insight, underscoring how the significance of the past informs the present.

This ebook features a new illustrated biography of William Styron, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Styron family and the Duke University Archives.

Rich and remarkable. . . . The ‘Tidewater’ stories stand as one of Styron’s finest works.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Essential Styron.” —Washington Post Book World

“The stories . . . will surprise and delight. . . . Both heartbreaking and strangely consoling.” —The New York Times Book Review