Electricity - by Ray Robinson (Paperback)

About the Book

Ray Robinson's visceral, ambitious debut novel "Electricity" is a tour de force portrayal of a heroine you will not soon forget. Thirty-year-old Lily O'Connor lives with epilepsy, uncontrollable surges of electricity that leave her in a constant state of edginess. Prickly, up-front-honest and down-to-earth practical, Lily has 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.

Book Synopsis

Ray Robinson's visceral, ambitious debut novel Electricity is a tour de force portrayal of a heroine you will not soon forget. Thirty-year-old Lily O'Connor lives with epilepsy, uncontrollable surges of electricity that leave her in a constant state of edginess. Prickly, up-front-honest and down-to-earth practical, Lily has 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.

Review Quotes

"A quest, narrated in Lily's engagingly unsentimental voice . . . Hallucinatory flashbacks, downward-counting chapter numbering, pages of jagged typography, Icons of Lily's pills showing time passing, are used to illustrate the way Lily's fits shape her life and perceptions. Hours and days vanish, and have to be reconstructed from the unreliable accounts of others. . . . Electricity is a powerful, passionate, and informative book." -- Roly Allen

"A thorny, uncompromising novel, with attitude. It is also, thanks to Lily O'Connor--its sharp-edged, hard-living, tough-talking narrator--mesmerizing, uplifting, and unexpectedly tender." -- Jim Crace

"As a neurologist, I was astonished by how vividly Ray Robinson portrays one woman's struggle with epilepsy, and the way it affected her already difficult life and the perceptions of those around her. As a reader, I was deeply moved by his young heroine's determination to live life as big as she can. This is a story of risk and redemption and is moving, disturbing, and inspirational at the same time." -- Carl W. Bazil, M.D., Ph.D.

"Fast, furious plot, kaleidoscopic Imagery, blunt observations and a wry, ingenuous, hugely compassionate heroine make Electricity a breathtaking assault on the senses." -- Catherine Taylor