Electricity

by Ray Robinson

This novel of a thirty-year-old epileptic woman and her estranged family is “mesmerizing . . . and unexpectedly tender” (Jim Crace, author of Harvest).   Lily O’Connor lives with epilepsy, uncontrollable surges of electricity that leave her in a constant state of edginess. Prickly and practical, she’s learned to make do, to make the most of things, to look after—and out for—herself.   Then her mother—whom Lily has not seen for years—dies, and Lily is drawn back into a world she thought she’d long since left behind. Reunited with her brother, a charismatic poker player, Lily pursues her own high-stakes gamble, leaving for London to track down her other, missing brother Mikey. In the pandemonium of the city, Lily’s seizures only intensify. As her journey takes her from her comfort zone, it leads her into the question of what her life is meant to be.   “A wry, ingenuous, hugely compassionate heroine.” —The Guardian   “A gritty tour of both London and the wrecked neurological pathways of epileptic Lily O’Connor. With equal parts hip misanthropy and sweet, clean-hearted sentiment, Ray Robinson convincingly channels the voice of a woman at war with the material world, for whom language itself arrives as a jarring shock to the brain.” —Jonathan Raymond, author of The Half-Life

Genres: Fiction, Mental Health, Novels

372 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 17, 2006

About the author

Robinson first won attention in 2006 with his debut novel, Electricity. It was shortlisted for both the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Authors' Club First Novel Award. The film adaptation of Electricity, starring Agyness Deyn, Tom Georgeson, and Christian Cooke, made its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival 2014, and won Best Screenplay at the National Film Awards 2015.

Robinson's other novels are The Man Without (2008), Forgetting Zoe (2010), and Jawbone Lake (2014).

Forgetting Zoe was a winner of the inaugural Jerwood Fiction Uncovered prize and was the Observer's 'Thriller of the Month'. Robinson was hailed as 'among the most impressive voices of Britain's younger generation' by the Irish Times, and the Irish Independent called Jawbone Lake 'a literary thriller of the highest order'.

Robinson is a post-graduate of Lancaster University, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in Creative Writing in 2006, and is a Mentor for The Literary Consultancy. He has appeared at literary festivals around the world, including La Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara, Mexico, and the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Robinson is currently working on a feature-length screenplay, and a novel for teenagers.