The Mating Habits of Stags

The lyrical new novel from the award-winning author of Electricity and Forgetting Zoë. Midwinter. As former farmhand Jake, a widower in his seventies, wanders the beautiful, austere moors of North Yorkshire trying to evade capture, we learn of the events of his past: the wife he loved and lost, their child he knows cannot be his, and the deep-seated need for revenge that manifests itself in a moment of violence. On the coast, Jake's friend, Sheila, receives the devastating news of his crime. The aftermath of Jake's actions, and what it brings to the surface, will change her life forever. But how will she react when he turns up at her door? The Mating Habits of Stags is a journey through a life of guilt and things unsaid - and as beauty and tenderness blend with violence, Robinson transports us to a different world, subtly exploring love and loss in a language that both bruises and heals. Praise for Ray Robinson's novels: 'A breathtaking assault on the senses' GUARDIAN'Mesmerising, uplifting and unexpectedly tender' JIM CRACE'Savage, funny and rather uncomfortably haunting' THE TIMES'He's using language like thick oil paint; you read and are inside the world being described' TIM PEARS

Born in North Yorkshire, Ray 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 Best First Novel Award. The screen adaptation premiered at the BFI London Film Festival and won Best Screenplay at the National Film Awards. His other novels are The Man Without, Forgetting Zoë and Jawbone Lake. Forgetting Zoë was a winner of the inaugural Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize. He wrote the multi-award-winning short film Edith, starring Peter Mullan and Michelle Fairley, on which The Mating Habits of Stags is based.