'Vivid, bawdy and bitter' THE TIMES

'A first-rate first novel . . . pungent, raunchy dialogue . . . passages of fine understated wit' IVAN GOLD, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Pat Barker's first novel shows the women of Union Street, young and old, meeting the harsh challeges of poverty and survival in a precarious world.

There's Kelly, at eleven, neglected and independent, dealing with a squalid rape; Dinah, knocking on sixty and still on the game; Joanne, not yet twenty, not yet married and already pregnant. Old Alice is welcoming her impending death whilst Muriel helplessly watches the decline of her stoical husband.

And linking them all, watching over them all, mother to half the street, is fiery, indomitable Iris.

* an early work by the winner of the 1995 Booker Prize

About the Author
Pat Barker was born in 1943. She was chosen in 1983 as one of the twenty 'Best of Young British' novelists and won the Booker Prize with The Ghost Road in 1995. In 2000, she received a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her contribution to the literary world. Her work focuses on survival, tragedy and hope. She lives in Durham.

Reviews
Vivid, bawdy and bitter * The Times *
They are gritty ... but it is not a cheap grit, rather one that has been ground out, grain by grain, in order to give a realistic picture of life as it was - and remains today for many in forgotten pockets up and down the country -- Belinda Webb * Guardian *
A first-rate first novel . . . pungent, raunchy dialogue . . . passages of fine understated wit -- Ivan Gold * New York Times Book Review *
The novel's point is life, and how rich and hard it is, and the different ways people have of toughing it through the pain without being crushed -- Meredith Tax * The Village Voice *
Vivid, bawdy and bitter * The Times 'Barker's talent for gently sifting through the hidden depths of the human psyche is awesome' *
Nova


Awards
Winner of Fawcett Society Book Prize 1983.



Book Information
ISBN 9780860682837
Author Pat Barker
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Virago Press Ltd
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 190g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 129mm * 18mm