This morning I finished reading Union Street by Pat Barker. It doesn't happen often but as I read the last paragraph I immediately wanted to re-read the entire book.
The book is unflinching in describing the reality of working-class women's lives. And no bodily excretion or fluid goes unmentioned. At first, I found that off-putting but not as much as the long-ago Guardian reviewer who wrote that it was all "far too gynaecological".
It was Bert who was the first to read Pat Barker. He began with the Regeneration Trilogy then moved to the Women of Troy novels and finally Union Street. I always gave him first dibs at the Barkers. Not any longer for I ordered three more today and I'll be reading them first. Bert will just have to wait.
*The last book I re-read straight away was Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These.
1 comment:
Just this morning finished the Hilary Mantel. Enjoyed it immensely and all the more because I was familiar with the places she wrote about.
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