Forgetting Zoe

A moving and powerful novel from the author of the much-acclaimed Electricity

I read Forgetting Zoë with great pleasure, admiration, and envy. What a writer. The characters are so sharply drawn they're etched into the page... Captivating. A great storytelling achievement.

A convincing portrait of how childhood brutality is passed down the generations...Direct in its depiction of abuse, Forgetting Zoë is never less than psychologically acute.

Stockholm syndrome is a curious but understandable condition, intelligently and vividly explored by Ray Robinson...Ray Robinson is a writer with keen observation. His prose is hard, abrupt and sinewy...It is a novel that contains violence but also stillness, that reveals more than it makes explicit...A mature and accomplished work.

Very provocative...Powerfully done.

Terribly convincing...The ventriloquism is very skilled.

Ray Robinson was born in North Yorkshire in 1971. After training as a graphic designer he spent many years teaching in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. His prize-winning stories are widely published in literary journals and he is the author of two novels, The Man Without and Electricity, which was nominated for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award. He is a post-graduate of Lancaster University where he was awarded a Ph.D. in Creative Writing in 2006 and is a Literary Mentor for The Literary Consultancy. He lives in Manchester. 
For more information visit the author's website: www.themanwithout.com

Zoë Nielsen was just like any other ten-year-old walking to school, not knowing that a chance encounter with Thurman Hayes would lead to her abduction and imprisonment in a converted nuclear bunker, 4,000 miles away, beneath a remote ranch house in Arizona. Enslaved in her underground tomb, deprived of food and light and water, the girl Zoe once was steadily begins to disappear... But over time Thurman grows tired of the rapidly maturing Zoë, and when he decides it is time to get rid of her, Zoë must finally make her bid for freedom. 
 
Forgetting Zoë is a moving, epic tale of courage, survival, horror and loss, that explores how a bond of affection and intimacy can develop between captive and captor.

Ray Robinson

This is a literary thriller of the highest order.

Robinson brings his characters alive by the evocation of their expansive inner worlds, the reaction of each to the events that spiral out from Jawbone Lake. Even the landscape of the Peaks colludes in the shifting of perspectives, slowly revealing more secrets to the intertwined protagonists. This novel resounds long after the mesmerising final sentence completes its circle. On the surface, it’s a literary thriller. But Robinson uses the frame of taut, compulsive storytelling to reveal infinite space beyond – the fathoms that lie between us.

Robinson is very good on the odd dynamics of the relationships grown-up sons have with their fathers … the characters and the writing are so compelling.  This book is also full of unexpected imagery … and amusing dialogue … that will linger happily in the memory

[A] lyrical novel about lives in a remarkable landscape.

Robinson seems to reinvent himself with each book. This time he has written an exemplary literary thriller. The clever bastard.

I became totally absorbed in this emotive and beautifully rendered novel... I would easily compare it to a writer such as Jim Crace in the rendition of its deep rooted emotional themes, and its pitch perfect evocation of place. A beautiful and affecting read.

A novel that ... knows how to thrill, even as it treats its thriller aspect as something strange and inscrutable ... another intriguing book from an author whose work should not remain a secret.

Robinson is deft at capturing the nuances of…relationship[s]…[There are] endearing, memorable characters.

I simply could not stop reading the book…Robinson really captures the atmosphere of the Peak District which is at once incredibly beautiful and also dangerous and ominous. This ripples through the book and often informs the mood over the characters even if they don’t know it. I loved all this. There is a modern gothic nature to all of this, along with an earthy element that works wonders for me and I think Robinson is brilliant at… A deliciously dark literary thriller.

[A] fine thriller, a psychological study of a young woman who is reluctantly involved in the plot and brilliant word pictures of life at the blunt end of “poverty Britain”…I found myself quickly drawn into the plot, with brief word-pictures building up just the right amount of framework in my mind. An elegant and fast-moving narrative drove me on through the pages and yet somehow leaving me feeling that “this is good writing”.’

[Robinson's] latest novel is a literary thriller with traces of Enduring Love. It is cold and bleak and brilliantly done. He is one of the finest British novelists of his age.

A novel that knows how to thrill, even as it treats its thriller aspect as something strange and inscrutable. So that’s another intriguing book from an author whose work should not remain a secret.

[A] very human novel in which nearly everything is expertly understated ... The characters and storyline are completely absorbing and all of the drama is handled brilliantly making the novel seem almost like a true life account ... Jawbone Lake is a very deep and poignant tale that had me hooked from the start ... It is an emotional read with exceptionally well crafted characters and a lot of heart; I thoroughly enjoyed it.’

From the author of Electricity and Forgetting Zoë, comes a thought-provoking, beautifully written and taut thriller. 
 
Ravenstor, the Peak District. New Year’s Day. 
 
A young woman stands on the shore of a frozen lake and watches a Land Rover crash off the bridge wall and into the ice. Two hundred miles away, a young man is woken by a devastating telephone call. The accident, and what it brings to the surface, will change both of their lives for ever.

Ray Robinson

Praise for Jawbone Lake

This is a literary thriller of the highest order.

Robinson brings his characters alive by the evocation of their expansive inner worlds, the reaction of each to the events that spiral out from Jawbone Lake. Even the landscape of the Peaks colludes in the shifting o ...

Robinson is very good on the odd dynamics of the relationships grown-up sons have with their fathers … the characters and the writing are so compelling. This book is also full of unexpected imagery … and amusing di ...

This is a literary thriller of the highest order.

Robinson brings his characters alive by the evocation of their expansive inner worlds, the reaction of each to the events that spiral out from Jawbone Lake. Even the landscape of the Peaks colludes in the shifting o ...

Robinson is very good on the odd dynamics of the relationships grown-up sons have with their fathers … the characters and the writing are so compelling. This book is also full of unexpected imagery … and amusing di ...

This is a literary thriller of the highest order.

Robinson brings his characters alive by the evocation of their expansive inner worlds, the reaction of each to the events that spiral out from Jawbone Lake. Even the landscape of the Peaks colludes in the shifting o ...

Robinson is very good on the odd dynamics of the relationships grown-up sons have with their fathers … the characters and the writing are so compelling. This book is also full of unexpected imagery … and amusing di ...

Books by Ray Robinson

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