Aberystwyth author explores dementia & darkness

From the critically acclaimed author of Big Pig, Little Pig, a mesmerizing deep dive into our fascination and fear of the dark…

Into the Dark
What Darkness Is and Why It Matters
By Jacqueline Yallop

Publication Date: 16/11/2023 | Price: £25 | Format: Hardback

Can you remember the first time you encountered true darkness? The kind that remains as black and inky whether your eyes are open or closed? Where you can’t see your hand in front of your face?

Jacqueline Yallop can. It was in an unfamiliar bedroom while holidaying in Yorkshire as a child, and ever since then she has been fascinated by the dark, by our efforts to capture or avoid it, by the meanings we give to it and the way our brains process it.

Taking a journey into the dark secrets of place, body and mind, she documents a series of night-time walks, exploring both the physical realities of darkness and the psychological dark that helps shape our sense of self.

Exploring our enduring love-hate relationship with states of darkness, she considers how we attempt to understand and contain the dark, and, as she comes to terms with
her father’s deteriorating Alzheimer’s, she reflects on how our relationship to the dark can change with time and circumstance.

Into the Dark is the story of the many darks that fascinate and assail us. It faces the darkness full on in all its guises and mysteries, celebrating it as a thing of beauty while
peering into the void.

Jacqueline Yallop is the author of three critically acclaimed novels and three works of non-fiction.

Jacqueline teaches Creative Writing at the University of Aberystwyth, and divides her time between the UK and south-west France.