Introduction Deirdre Madden’s One by one in the Darkness, published on 1996 in London, is a social realism novel. Deirdre’s style of writing is known to tackle depth of human consciousness and of her characters’ humanity as well. In order for her to create such, Madden examined each of her characters, meticulously built each with traits and realistic personal issues, with different perspective in certain regard such as the loss of the Quinns’ father. Such style of hers came out best in this novel, One by One in the Darkness. (Johnsen 2008). One of the substantial topics that can be discussed in her novel is the effect of the unfortunate events in the characters’ lives. Through that, the context and in between lines of the story lies the depth of the Deirdre’s message regarding the effect of the Northern Ireland’s Troubles into its habitant. Summary One by One in Darkness is set in Belfast, as well as in Northern Irish countryside. The main characters are the three Quinn Sisters; Cate, Sally and Helen, living with different kind of lives. Other characters are also considered played important details to project some essential aspect in effect of the historic Troubles. The story opens recounting Cate, a glamorous journalist in London working on a fashion magazine, living independently and was anxious about her pregnancy. The tension already starting in there as she’s bound to go home to tell her family whom she’s sure of wouldn’t be accepting the news with open arms. She was not accepted by their mother at first, and was then forced to live with her sister Helen in Belfast for a meantime. Eventually, her mother gathered enough strength to face the situation of Cate while still recovering from the loss of her husband. Sally lives a simple life. She remained in their home with their mother near in Belfast and teaches in primary school where the sisters themselves have attended when they were children. Helen, although living just nearby home, is in Belfast. She’s a lawyer in the city, and part of her practice is representing accused and tried Catholics of political crimes. From the motivation of Helen in the option of her work, it is apparent that they had been raised strictly as Catholics. Such fact is what makes Cate dreadful of going home, knowing that she will bring home news that is definitely hard for such family’s orientation to accept, the fruit of her liberated lifestyle. They all had grown up in the country, Troubles begun when they were just practically children. Such event then leads the lives of each in the family into inevitable changes. It was the death of their father due to the violence brought by the trouble that claimed them into emotional misery. He was murdered in the kitchen of their uncle’s kitchen, as witnessed by their aunt. Eventually, their uncle’s kitchen had been renovated to erase off the tragic memory in the part of their house. Though they admitted they cannot retrieved anymore the life’s loss in even how they wanted it to be remodeled. The concluding part settled in the scene where Cate is giving birth, and her family supportively rallies around her. The author had implied that in this sight, each of them had glimpsed of reformed life drifting away from the lasting effect that brought by the incident of the Troubles. Between the Lines One by One in the Darkness, was