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.…

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 09 October 2024.]

12907 Liza's England 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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