Pat Barker, Liza's England

Jessica Gildersleeve (University of Southern Queensland)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1986

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Originally published under the title

The Century's Daughter

Liza's England

follows on from Pat Barker's first two novels,

Union Street

(1982) and

Blow Your House Down

(1984) in its concern with the lives of working-class women. This novel may be read as the unheard testimony of the twentieth-century English working class and, more particularly, of the women within it. Here, Barker moves beyond a romanticised vision of the working class and seeks instead a realist representation of twentieth-century England. She avoids a rosy nostalgic version of the past, but rather recovers and reclaims it through memory: “‘And you talk about the good old days', said Liza. ‘What was so good about them? Women wore out at thirty. And you can't deny they were, because you

know

.' ‘I don't deny it.…

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2447 words

Citation: Gildersleeve, Jessica. "Liza's England". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 September 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12907, accessed 23 April 2024.]

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