Stray is a psychologically intense literary novel set in Barcelona in the early 2000s. Dominic Clare — a socially inhibited former English teacher turned computer programmer — spends his days writing long confessions to imaginary readers on an obsolete Usenet newsgroup. Still reeling from a painful breakup, he's drawn to Andrea Svoboda, a sharp, self-assured Czech literature professor who seems to see right through him.

What begins as an off-kilter flirtation quickly becomes something stranger and more charged. Andrea peels back Dominic's defences with unsettling precision, forcing him to confront memories, fantasies, and truths he has long kept buried. As the power between them shifts and intensifies, both must reckon with who they are — and what they want — when the usual rules no longer apply.

Told through a mix of narrative, emails, academic correspondence, and online posts, Stray explores themes of cultural displacement, erotic fixation, and emotional vulnerability in an age of digital loneliness.

Francis Langley

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