Now, at the worst times, Anna is forced to spend months on end in a blacked-out room, where she loses herself in audiobooks and elaborate word games in an attempt to ward off despair. Then what started as a mild intolerance to certain kinds of artificial light developed into a severe sensitivity to all light. The author's intelligence shines on every page, and her will to survive (despite those black thoughts in her dark room) is inspiring.Haunting, lyrical, unforgettable, Girl in the Dark is a brave new memoir of a life without light.Īnna Lyndsey was young and ambitious and worked hard she had just bought an apartment she was falling in love. It is also a love story - because without her boyfriend (now husband) Pete, it is impossible to see how Lyndsey would have survived. lyrical, funny and uplifting.' - The Daily Mail 'In lyrical, melancholy prose, she describes the limits of her days, listening to audiobooks, inventing word games and dreaming of sunshine while clinging onto a slim chance of recovery.' - The Sunday Express 'An extraordinary memoir of horror, endurance, resourcefulness and despair. She wrote haltingly in the complete darkness, in a bound notebook, using her left thumb as a marker to guide her hand. In the dying of the light, there is rage but also laughter, love and the hope of progress.' - The Times 'Girl in the Dark is a stunning debut from Anna Lyndsey about an unimaginably horrible disease.' - Literary Review 'She began to write about her illness. This book about darkness shines with lucid writing and flashes of bold imagination.' - The Sunday Times 'With black humour, she describes her strategies for living as full a life as possible without becoming an emotional basket-case. It's honesty, bravery and touches of black comedy will be a help to anyone suffering from a chronic illness, as well as to those who - at least for now - are spared. It is the story of how, through her determination to make her impossible life possible and with the love of those around her, she has managed to find light in even the darkest of places. Told with great beauty, humour and honesty, Girl in the Dark is the astonishing and uplifting account of Anna's descent into the depths of her extraordinary illness. During the worst, she must spend months in a darkened room, listening to audiobooks, inventing word-games and fighting to keep despair at bay. Now her extreme sensitivity to light in all forms means she must spend much of her life in total darkness.ĭuring the best times, she can venture cautiously outside at dusk and dawn, avoiding high-strength streetlamps. Then the burning spread and the problematic light sources proliferated. It began with a burning sensation on her face when she was exposed to computer screens and fluorescent lighting. She enjoyed her job she was ambitious she was falling in love.

Girl in the Dark by Anna Lyndsey