Between Grief and Nothing

In 1962, William Faulkner left his homestead in Oxford, Mississippi, to travel to the nearby Byhalia sanatorium for alcoholism rehabilitation. Mere hours later, the usual recovery he sought turned tragic. This book traces the sequence of events leading to his initial hospitalization, exploring facets of his emotional instability, mental health, and various addictions. It reveals how Faulkner’s fervent passions shaped both his life and his art; brilliance and madness emerged in equal measure as the author’s substance abuse shaped his reality.
Beneath the scholarly facade depicted in photographs was a troubled man entangled in a complex marriage, seeking solace through serial sexual and romantic affairs, perilous pastimes, and the pervasive culture of alcohol abuse. The ultimate truth surrounding Faulkner’s final decline gradually emerges as this book examines previously undisclosed medical details such as patient records, administered medications, and financial statements. Interviews with close associates at the Leonard Wright Sanatorium, the sight of his unexpected death, provide further insights. The text reveals a culture ill-prepared to address mental health crises and identifies the habitual forces that hastened the demise of one of America’s most celebrated authors.

Lisa C. Hickman holds her Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi and is the author of nonfiction books, numerous articles, essays, and book reviews. She has published extensively on the life and work of William Faulkner and Joan Williams.

Lisa C. Hickman
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 221
Bibliographic Info: 9 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2025
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9605-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5428-7
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments viii

Preface 1

Introduction 3

One. Stonewall Road: 1962 11

Two. The Old Country Club: Circa 1948 19

Three. Estelle 34

Four. The Road to Glory: 1932–1936 48

Five. The Past Is Past: 1936–1937 65

Six. Southern Danger: 1940–1947 75

Seven. Enter Joan Williams: 1949 91

Eight. New York and Trouble Follows: 1948–1949 102

Nine. Per Aspera ad Astra: 1950 113

Ten. Spooked: 1951 131

Eleven. Superlative: 1952 138

Twelve. I Wont Stop In: 1953 155

Thirteen. Mississippi Ghosts: 1962 182

Chapter Notes 195

Bibliography 203

Index 207

• “William Faulkner wrote novels that won him the Nobel Prize, went to Hollywood to write screenplays and hobnob with famous directors and movie stars, was recognized during his lifetime as one of the greatest of all American writers, and yet he was a desperately unhappy man. His career and personal life were torn apart by alcohol and drug abuse and mental illness. Death came to him suddenly and mysteriously, only a few hours after checking into a sanitarium for rich Mississippians dealing with mental breakdowns. In Between Grief and Nothing, Lisa C. Hickman conducts a fascinating exploration of the dark, brilliant, tormented soul of William Faulkner, and uncovers information that sheds new light on his final days and hours.”—Tom Epperson, author of Make Believe and Roberto to the Dark Tower Came

• “A fascinating portrait of a deeply tortured and self-destructive genius. Hickman looks at William Faulkner through the lens of our current millennium, and all we know now about drug abuse, alcoholism and depression. It shocks me that treatment never appears to include any talking cure like therapy. Lisa’s book illuminates much of what I find so distressing and grim in Faulkner’s vision of humanity and especially the South. He embodied the term ‘tortured genius.”—Sarah Share, director of The Graceless Age: The Ballad of John Murry, New Decade Films Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland