Night Vision

In search of the true dark

De: Jean Sprackland

Brought to you by Penguin.

An exhilarating leap into darkness in all its forms, enchantments and history: the new work of non-fiction from award-winning poet and writer Jean Sprackland

Darkness can make the most ordinary activity feel adventurous. Open a door and step through it. You can’t see a thing: you could be anywhere. Step over the threshold, into the dark, and feel your way.

We humans have a complicated relationship with the dark. We fear it, and make great efforts to blot it out. But we also long for it, especially if we live in cities, or remember the starry skies of our childhoods. Darkness opens us up to risk, delight and transformation. Is it possible to prise it free of its negative associations, which are as old as human thought itself?

In her quest for a new, more intimate relationship with darkness, acclaimed poet and writer Jean Sprackland finds herself confronting some of the deepest – and darkest – questions about who we are and our place in the world. Drawing on memory and imagination, history and ecology, literature and myth, Night Vision is an expansive, thrilling journey into the true dark.

'Elegant and deeply sensory' Katherine May, author of Wintering

© Jean Sprackland 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Reseñas de la Crítica

An elegant and deeply sensory exploration of darkness in all its forms (Katherine May, author of WINTERING)

Stylish and crammed with memorable details, Night Vision is the most lucid book about darkness you will ever read. (Robert Crawford, author of OLD WORLD)

An intimate, questing, and deeply moving collection of nocturnal encounters, Jean Sprackland’s Night Vision is a stellar polyphony of vespertine voice and story. Illuminating and lyrical, equal parts uncanny and comforting, but always curious and humane, this book is essential reading for anybody wishing to become better acquainted with the night. (Dan Richards, author of OVERNIGHT)