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Iris doesn’t remember the first time she met Nina. But she remembers the first time she paid attention to her. It was when he did.

The first year of high school brought Iris into a type of privilege she’d never felt part of. But then she found her place. The magic of performing in school musicals and the freedom of the stage opened her up to a new world. Her drama teacher gave her a glimpse of the adult she wanted to be. But, just like in the theatre, when the spotlight is off you, it can be a lonely and neglected existence. For Iris, jealousy and bitterness will grow. For Nina, something more dangerous. Reckless anger and rumours will come to a head. And, years later, there is a reckoning for them all.

A Light in the Dark is a compelling novel that distils the magic of theatre as the backdrop for an unforgettable examination of friendship, vulnerability, power and abuse.

‘Powerful’ THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S WEEKLY

‘A love letter to the theatre, even as it simultaneously shines a light on its issues’ SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

‘Truly detailed and passionate writing . . . Slowly and carefully unpacks how passion, creativity and abuse can be entwined, and how they can impact a person over the years. I loved it’ READINGS

‘An astute work . . . Allee Richards captures perfectly that teenage girl angst which many of us will remember . . . and tells a story from which we can all draw hope. There is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel as bright as the follow spot on the stage’ LIVING ARTS CANBERRA

Praise for Allee Richards’ Small Joys of Real Life

‘A painful, beautiful novel that is a welcome addition to Australia’s growing crop of women-centred millennial fiction’ BOOKS+PUBLISHING

‘An exploration and, in many ways, celebration of the untidy years of young adult lives, and all the tragic and surprising loss, love and wonder that entails’ THE AGE

‘It’s the little bursts of good in what could be described as a modern-millennial tragedy that makes Allee Richards’ debut novel the poignant work that it is’ THE GUARDIAN

‘Richards brilliantly navigates the trials and tribulations of your late twenties’ ARTSHUB