We Do What We Do in the Dark

Michelle Hart's fiction has appeared in Joyland and Electric Literature, and she has written nonfiction for Catapult, NYLON, The Rumpus, and The New Yorker online. Previously, she was the Assistant Books Editor at O, the Oprah Magazine and Oprah Daily. She received her MFA from Rutgers-Newark and lives in New Jersey.

Michelle Hart's first novel is a haunting study of solitude and connection, moving and memorable
A gorgeous storyteller, Hart is gifted with a poet's precision, blending image and idea. Sensual and wise, this novel channels the melancholic exhilaration of dangerous love
A beautiful book so filled with sharp longing and perfectly phrased vulnerability that I read it in a reverent hush
In Michelle Hart's debut novel, she tackles vulnerability, attachment, and the purpose relationships serve in our increasingly isolated lives
Seductive and lyrical with poetic detail, this is an unforgettable account of a forbidden romance made extraordinary by Hart's precision and lyrical touch. A compulsive read that satisfies and haunts
At the heart of this sensual debut novel is the story of yearning between young Mallory and a married college professor. Theirs is a transactional desire on the surface, but Hart delves into the motivations of both Mallory and the professor, referred to in the text only as The Woman, to reveal important truths about what our closest relationships say about us, and what they help us conceal
Transfixing . . . Mallory's intense interiority and self-consciousness will remind readers of Sally Rooney's work, and Hart's prose is delicate and piercing. This is auspicious and breathtaking
Does something exceptional . . . Has flashes of Sally Rooney's CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS, or Halle Butler's THE NEW ME. Sometimes it's erotic, sometimes it's devastating. . . But the writing always crackles, written by someone who clearly knows what it's like to desire another woman in ways you just barely understand
Michelle Hart's coming-of-age novel skillfully depicts forbidden romance and the shame it can foster
An electric debut
'Does something exceptional . . . Sometimes it's erotic, sometimes it's devastating' New York Times


Mallory sees the woman for the first time at her college gym and is immediately transfixed. Naturally reserved and reeling from the loss of her mother, Mallory finds herself compelled by the woman's assurance and sophistication, and longs to know her better. Despite the discovery that she is a professor at the college, she quickly falls into a complicated, all-consuming love affair with the woman, retreating from the rest of the world.
In the years that follow, Mallory must come to terms with how the relationship shaped her, for better or worse, and learn to take back the life that she sacrificed for the sake of a woman she never truly knew.


'Hart is gifted with a poet's precision, blending image and idea. Sensual and wise' Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage

'An electric debut' Marie Claire


'Skilfully depicts forbidden romance and the shame it can foster' Time