William Rayner

William Rayner (1 January 1929 – 2006) was an English writer of novels for adults and children. After working as a teacher and lecturer, Rayner published a number of books, often historical fiction, including the unfinished "Devil's Picture-Book" trilogy. His two YA novels, Stag Boy and Big Mister incorporated fantasy elements.

Biography

Rayner was born on the first day of 1929, in Barnsley, Yorkshire, to Thomas (a civil servant) and Lily (née Fisher) Rayner. after which he made a living as a teacher and lecturer. One result of his time there is his non-fiction book, The Tribe and its Successors: An Account of African Traditional Life and European Settlement in Southern Rhodesia, which was published in 1962 by Faber & Faber in the UK and Frederick A. Praeger in the USA.

Rayner's first novel, The Reapers, came out in 1961. More followed throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including two Young adult fiction novels, Stag Boy (1972) and Big Mister (1974), after which Rayner returned to mostly historical fiction for adults, often set in the American West.

His last two novels, Wheels of Fortune (1979) and Knave of Swords (1980), were intended to be followed by a third, to complete "The Devil's Picture-Book" trilogy, set at the end of the 18th century, addressing themes arising from the Industrial Revolution.

Rayner died in Somerset, England in 2006. His wife (with whom he had three sons ) died in 2013.