Pat Barker

This book offers readings of Barker's innovations in narrative form, her revisionist perspectives on history, class and gender, and her preoccupation with themes of trauma, haunting and terror. It also analyzes the reasons for her success and significance as a novelist. The chapters draw on contemporary theories of critical realism, gender and social identities, memory and narrative, in order to outline the debates with which Barker's work has consistently engaged.

John Brannigan is College Lecturer in English at University College Dublin.

Critical and cultural contexts * Small worlds: 'Union Street' * Whoever fights monsters: 'Blow Your House Down' * Telling stories: 'The Century’s Daughter' ('Liza’s England') * Searching for heroes: 'The Man Who Wasn’t There' * History and haunting: 'The Regeneration Trilogy' * The return of history: 'Another World' * Redemption: 'Border Crossing' and 'Double Vision' * Critical overview and conclusion * Notes * Select Bibliography * Index Critical and cultural contexts * Small worlds: 'Union Street' * Whoever fights monsters: 'Blow Your House Down' * Telling stories: 'The Century’s Daughter' ('Liza’s England') * Searching for heroes: 'The Man Who Wasn’t There' * History and haunting: 'The Regeneration Trilogy' * The return of history: 'Another World' * Redemption: 'Border Crossing' and 'Double Vision' * Critical overview and conclusion * Notes * Select Bibliography * Index