Light/Dark

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At the New Yorker, Ed Caesar interviews Anna Lyndsey, author of the memoir Girl in the Dark, about her mysterious light sensitivity that kept her in the dark for over a decade. Citing prominent dermatologists, Ceasar questions Lyndsey’s symptoms and explores the possibility that they were psychosomatic, a possibility Lyndsey herself dismisses:

My situation was so extreme, rare and unusual that when I described it to people in the hope of seeking help, the response was usually incredulity. Somebody once said that three of the most powerful words in the language are ‘I believe you.’ Their implied opposite is no less powerful. Repeated over and over again, it became a psychic flaying, on top of the agonising burning of my skin.

Kelly Lynn Thomas reads, writes, and sometimes sews in Pittsburgh, PA. Her creative work has appeared in Sou’wester, Thin Air Magazine, Heavy Feather Review, metazen, and others, and she received her MFA in Creative Writing from Chatham University. She is hopelessly obsessed with Star Wars and can always be found with a large mug of tea. She also runs the very small Wild Age Press. Read more at kellylynnthomas.com. More from this author →