Pat Barker

In this haunting second installment of the Regeneration Trilogy, a World War I officer grapples with the complex realities of PTSD, identity, sexuality, and society's perceptions of mental illness. It is the spring of 1918, and Britain is faced with the possibility of defeat by Germany. A beleaguered government and a vengeful public target two groups as scapegoats: pacifists and homosexuals. Many are jailed, others lead dangerous double lives, the "the eye in the door" becomes a symbol of the paranoia that threatens to destroy the very fabric of British society. Central to this novel are such compelling, richly imagined characters as the brilliant and compassionate Dr. William Rivers; his most famous patient, the poet Siegfried Sassoon; and Lieutenant Billy Prior, who plays a central role as a domestic intelligence agent. With compelling, realistic dialogue and a keen eye for the social issues that have gone overlooked in mainstream media, The Eye in the Door is a triumph that equals Regeneration and the third novel in the trilogy, the 1995 Booker Prize-winning The Ghost Road, establishing Pat Barker's place in the very forefront of contemporary novelists.

From the Booker Prize-winning and Women's Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the Girls The second novel in Pat Barker's acclaimed 'Life Class' trilogy - a dark and compelling examination of desire, friendship and the horror of war, from one of our greatest writers on war and the human heart'Heart-rending... Toby's Room anatomises a world where extreme emotion shatters the boundaries of identity, behaviour, gender' Independent'Once again Barker skilfully moves between past and present, seamlessly weaving fact and fiction into a gripping narrative' Sunday TelegraphWhen Toby is reported 'Missing, Believed Killed', another secret casts a lengthening shadow over Elinor's world: how exactly did Toby die - and why? Elinor determines to uncover the truth. Only then can she finally close the door to Toby's room. Moving from the Slade School of Art to Queen Mary's Hospital, where surgery and art intersect in the rebuilding of the shattered faces of the wounded, Toby's Room is a riveting drama of identity, damage, intimacy and loss.The Life Class trilogy:Life ClassToby's RoomNoonday

The masterful second novel in Pat Barker's classic 'Regeneration' trilogy - from the Booker Prize-winning and Women's Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the GirlsWINNER OF THE 1993 GUARDIAN FICTION PRIZE'Spellbinding and startlingly original' Sunday Telegraph'Gripping, moving, profoundly intelligent' Independent on Sunday'A new vision of what the First World War did to human beings, male and female, soldiers and civilians' A. S. Byatt, Daily TelegraphLondon, 1918. Billy Prior is working for Intelligence in the Ministry of Munitions. But his private encounters with women and men - pacifists, objectors, homosexuals - conflict with his duties as a soldier, and it is not long before his sense of himself fragments and breaks down. Forced to consult the man who helped him before - army psychiatrist William Rivers - Prior must confront his inability to be the dutiful soldier his superiors wish him to be. The Eye in the Door is a heart-rending study of the contradictions of war and of those forced to live through it.The Regeneration Trilogy:RegenerationThe Eye in the DoorThe Ghost Road

Winner of the 1995 Booker Prize Set in the closing months of World War I, this towering novel combines poetic intensity with gritty realism as it brings Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy to its stunning conclusion. In France, millions of men engaged in brutal trench warfare are all "ghosts in the making." In England, psychologist William Rivers, with severe pangs of conscience, treats the mental casualties of the war to make them whole enough to fight again. One of these, Billy Prior, risen to the officer class from the working class, both courageous and sardonic, decides to return to France with his fellow officer, poet Wilfred Owen, to fight a war he no longer believes in. Meanwhile, Rivers, enfevered by influenza returns in memory to his experience studying a South Pacific tribe whose ethos amounted to a culture of death. Across the gulf between his society and theirs, Rivers begins to form connections that cast new light on his--and our--understanding of war.

"Calls to mind such early moderns as Hemingway and Fitzgerald...Some of the most powerful antiwar literature in modern English fiction."--The Boston GlobeThe first book of the Regeneration Trilogy--a Booker Prize nominee and one of Entertainment Weekly's 100 All-Time Greatest Novels. In 1917 Siegfried Sasson, noted poet and decorated war hero, publicly refused to continue serving as a British officer in World War I. His reason: the war was a senseless slaughter. He was officially classified "mentally unsound" and sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital. There a brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. William Rivers, set about restoring Sassoon's "sanity" and sending him back to the trenches. This novel tells what happened as only a novel can. It is a war saga in which not a shot is fired. It is a story of a battle for a man's mind in which only the reader can decide who is the victor, who the vanquished, and who the victim. One of the most amazing feats of fiction of our time, Regeneration has been hailed by critics across the globe. More than one hundred years since World War I, this book is as timely and relevant as ever.

From the Booker Prize-winning and Women's Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the Girls The first novel in Pat Barker's acclaimed 'Life Class' trilogy - an unforgettable story of art and war, from one of our greatest writers on war and the human heart'Triumphant, inspiring, shattering' The Times'Barker writes as brilliantly as ever... With great tenderness and insight she conveys a wartime world turned upside down' Independent on Sunday'Masterly, gripping' Penelope Lively'Extraordinarily powerful' Sunday Telegraph Spring, 1914. The students at the Slade School of Art gather in Henry Tonks's studio for his life-drawing class. But for Paul Tarrant the class is troubling, underscoring his own uncertainty about making a mark on the world. When war breaks out and the army won't take Paul, he enlists in the Belgian Red Cross just as he and fellow student Elinor Brooke admit their feelings for one another. Amidst the devastation in Ypres, Paul comes to see the world anew - but have his experiences changed him completely?The Life Class trilogy:Life ClassToby's RoomNoonday

The Booker Prize-winning final novel in Pat Barker's classic 'Regeneration' trilogy - from the acclaimed author of The Silence of the Girls'An extraordinary tour de force. One of the few real masterpieces of late twentieth-century British fiction' Jonathan Coe'Powerful, deeply moving... A triumph' Sunday Times'Harrowing, original, unforgettable' Independent1918, the closing months of the war. Army psychiatrist William Rivers is increasingly concerned for the men who have been in his care - particularly Billy Prior, who is about to return to combat in France with young poet Wilfred Owen. As Rivers tries to make sense of what, if anything, he has done to help these injured men, Prior and Owen await the final battles in a war that has decimated a generation. The Ghost Road is a vivid and unforgettable account of the devastating final months of the First World War.The Regeneration Trilogy:RegenerationThe Eye in the DoorThe Ghost Road

The modern classic of contemporary war fiction from Women's Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the Girls, Regeneration is a powerfully moving portrait of the deep legacy of human trauma in the First World War. RECOMMENDED BY RICHARD OSMANCraiglockhart War Hospital, Scotland, 1917, and army psychiatrist William Rivers is treating shell-shocked soldiers. Under his care are the poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, as well as mute Billy Prior, who is only able to communicate by means of pencil and paper. Rivers's job is to make the men in his charge healthy enough to fight. Yet the closer he gets to mending his patients' minds the harder becomes every decision to send them back to the horrors of the front. Pat Barker's Regeneration is the classic exploration of how the traumas of war brutalised a generation of young men.'Brilliant, intense and subtle' Peter Kemp, Sunday Times'One of the strongest and most interesting novelists of her generation' Guardian'Unforgettable' Sunday TelegraphThe Regeneration trilogy:RegenerationThe Eye in the DoorThe Ghost Road

From the Booker Prize-winning and Women's Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the GirlsA powerfully thought-provoking portrait of modern warfare from one of the modern masters of war fiction'Barker is one of our most significant contemporary novelists' Daily Telegraph'The characters grab hold at the beginning and never loosen their grip. Barker holds us by the sheer beauty of her writing' Financial Times 'Barker has a quite extraordinary ability to combine complexity and clarity and to make both seem parts of the same whole' Sunday TimesReturning to Afghanistan after his photographer friend is killed by a sniper, war reporter Stephen Sharkey seeks release from his nightmares in an England seemingly at peace with itself. Questioning man's inhumanity to man both abroad and at home, and whether love really can be the great redeemer, Double Vision is a searing novel of conflict in modern times.

An unflinching novel on the nature of evil from the Booker Prize-winning and Women's Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the Girls'Rich, surprising, breathtaking' The Times'A tremendous piece of writing, sad and terrifying. It keeps you reading, exhausted and blurry-eyed, until 2am' Independent on Sunday'Barker probes not only the mysteries of 'evil' but society's horrified and incoherent response to it' Guardian 'Brilliantly crafted. Unflinching yet sensitive, this is a dark story expertly told' Daily Mail When Tom Seymour, a child psychologist, plunges into a river to save a young man from drowning, he unwittingly reopens a chapter from his past he'd hoped to forget. For Tom already knows Danny Miller. When Danny was ten Tom helped imprison him for the killing of an old woman. Now out of prison with a new identity, Danny has some questions - questions he thinks only Tom can answer. Reluctantly, Tom is drawn back into Danny's world - a place where the border between good and evil, innocence and guilt is blurred and confused. But when Danny's demands on Tom become extreme, Tom wonders whether he has crossed a line of his own - and in crossing it, can he ever go back?

"Pat Barker's writing is so sure, and her characters so vital, that a powerful story emerges, honest, grim but often funny, and always engrossing." -NewsdayIn Liza's England, Liza Garrett is the first child in town born in the twentieth century--whose life in many ways mirrors the turmoil of England itself. The tough, severe, but very real and recognizable world of women is put to the most strenuous tests, and Liza, at eighty-four, is proof that loyalty, fortitude and humor survive.

From the Booker Prize-winning and Women's Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the Girls'Gripping in the best, most exquisite sense of the word' Mail on Sunday'Utterly compelling... She is a novelist who probes deep, revealing what people prefer to keep hidden' Scotsman'Extraordinary... Without question the best novel I have read this year' Daily Mail'Brilliant touches of observation, an unfailing ear for dialogue... This is a novel that doesn't allow you to miss a sentence' New York Times Book ReviewAt 101 years old, Geordie, a proud Somme veteran, lingers painfully through the days before his death. His grandson Nick is anguished to see this once-resilient man haunted by the ghosts of the trenches and the horror surrounding his brother's death. But in Nick's family home the dark pressures of the past also encroach on the present. As he and his wife Fran try to unite their uneasy family of step- and half-siblings, the discovery of a sinister Victorian drawing reveals the murderous history of their house and casts a violent shadow on their lives...

'A modern-day masterpiece' SUNDAY TIMES'The third, Liza's England, in many ways the most moving of the trilogy, tracks the life of a northern working-class woman from the beginning of the century to well into Thatcher's reign, exploding feminist myths as readily as political ones' BELINDA WEBB, GUARDIAN Dauntless Liza Jarrett, born at the dawn of the twentieth century, is now in her eighties, frail and facing eviction with her cantankerous parrot Nelson, when she is visited by Stephen, a young gay social worker. As she learns to trust him, she recalls her life - her embittered, exhausted mother, her shell-shocked spiritualist husband, her beloved son and chaotic daugter. Their friendship, deepening with the unfolding of their stories, comes to sustain Liza through her last battle and brings new courage to Stephen.

From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Regeneration Trilogy comes the powerful third installment to the Women of Troy series. - In The Voyage Home, Pat Barker skillfully reimagines Greek mythology, chronicling a perilous journey undertaken by the enslaved healer Ritsa and her cruel mistress Cassandra. "One of contemporary literature's most thoughtful and compelling writers." --The Washington Post "Readers will relish this fierce feminist retelling." --Publishers Weekly I never saw Cassandra as a victim. I saw a woman as focused on a single aim as any raptor stooping to its prey; but then, I had more opportunities to observe her ruthlessness than most. I was in her power, you see. I was her slave. Pat Barker has crafted the latest in a brilliant reimagining of Greek mythology, and The Voyage Home is the work of a writer at the height of her powers. In this third outing, she follows the young Ritsa and the unpredictable Cassandra on their perilous return journey to Mycenae. Cassandra has acquired the powers of prophecy from the kiss of Apollo, but the very same god has taken away the people's belief in her abilities. Though she warns of the carnage that awaits the Greek warrior king Agamemnon--who numbs himself with alcohol on the storm-plagued trip home--her shipmates disregard her. While Cassandra's prophecies fall on deaf ears, Ritsa instead remains focused on surviving once they make land. When a mysterious young girl begins to shadow them, and Agamemnon's cruelty takes a new turn, Ritsa must find a safe place for Cassandra, whose mood alternates between cruelty and frenzy. But it's the ongoing ire between Queen Clytemnestra and Agamemnon that could prove fatal for everyone. In The Voyage Home, Barker elevates myth and legend and asks us to examine the stories we hold dear through a feminist lens, and in doing so she has crafted a tale that upholds her legacy as one of our finest contemporary novelists.

From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Regeneration Trilogy comes the powerful third installment to the Women of Troy series. In The Voyage Home, Pat Barker skillfully reimagines Greek mythology, chronicling a perilous journey undertaken by the enslaved healer Ritsa and her cruel mistress Cassandra. AN INSTANT UK BESTSELLER "Barker's vision of a world shaped by violence, a key theme in all her fiction, is equal to the tragic grandeur of ancient myth....More brilliant work from one of world literature's greatest writers." --Kirkus Reviews *starred review* I never saw Cassandra as a victim. I saw a woman as focused on a single aim as any raptor stooping to its prey; but then, I had more opportunities to observe her ruthlessness than most. I was in her power, you see. I was her slave. Pat Barker has crafted the latest in a brilliant reimagining of Greek mythology, and The Voyage Home is the work of a writer at the height of her powers. In this third outing, she follows the young Ritsa and the unpredictable Cassandra on their perilous return journey to Mycenae. Cassandra has acquired the powers of prophecy from the kiss of Apollo, but the very same god has taken away the people's belief in her abilities. Though she warns of the carnage that awaits the Greek warrior king Agamemnon--who numbs himself with alcohol on the storm-plagued trip home--her shipmates disregard her. While Cassandra's prophecies fall on deaf ears, Ritsa instead remains focused on surviving once they make land. When a mysterious young girl begins to shadow them, and Agamemnon's cruelty takes a new turn, Ritsa must find a safe place for Cassandra, whose mood alternates between cruelty and frenzy. But it's the ongoing ire between Queen Clytemnestra and Agamemnon that could prove fatal for everyone. In The Voyage Home, Barker elevates myth and legend and asks us to examine the stories we hold dear through a feminist lens, and in doing so she has crafted a tale that upholds her legacy as one of our finest contemporary novelists.

The exhilarating follow-up to Pat Barker's The Women of Troy and The Silence of the Girls After ten blood-filled years, the war is over. Troy lies in smoking ruins as the victorious Greeks fill their ships with the spoils of battle.Alongside the treasures looted are the many Trojan women captured by the Greeks - among them the legendary prophetess Cassandra, and her watchful maid, Ritsa. Enslaved as concubine - war-wife - to King Agamemnon, Cassandra is plagued by visions of his death - and her own - while Ritsa is forced to bear witness to both Cassandra's frenzies and the horrors to come.Meanwhile, awaiting the fleet's return is Queen Clytemnestra, vengeful wife of Agamemnon. Heart-shattered by her husband's choice to sacrifice their eldest daughter to the gods in exchange for a fair wind to Troy, she has spent this long decade plotting retribution, in a palace haunted by child-ghosts.As one wife journeys toward the other, united by the vision of Agamemnon's death, one thing is certain: this long-awaited homecoming will change everyone's fates forever.Praise for Pat Barker:'Barker delves unflinchingly into the enduring mysteries of human motivation' Sunday Telegraph'She is not only a fine chronicler of war but of human nature' Independent'Barker is a writer of crispness and clarity and an unflinching seeker of the germ of what it means to be human' Herald'You go to her for plain truths, a driving storyline and a clear eye, steadily facing the history of our world' Guardian

THE EXHILARATING FOLLOW-UP TO PAT BARKER'S THE WOMEN OF TROY AND THE SILENCE OF THE GIRLSAfter ten blood-filled years, the war is over. Troy lies in smoking ruins as the victorious Greeks fill their ships with the spoils of battle.Alongside the treasures looted are the many Trojan women captured by the Greeks – among them the legendary prophetess Cassandra, and her watchful maid, Ritsa. Enslaved as concubine – war-wife – to King Agamemnon, Cassandra is plagued by visions of his death – and her own – while Ritsa is forced to bear witness to both Cassandra’s frenzies and the horrors to come.Meanwhile, awaiting the fleet’s return is Queen Clytemnestra, vengeful wife of Agamemnon. Heart-shattered by her husband’s choice to sacrifice their eldest daughter to the gods in exchange for a fair wind to Troy, she has spent this long decade plotting retribution, in a palace haunted by child-ghosts.As one wife journeys toward the other, united by the vision of Agamemnon’s death, one thing is certain: this long-awaited homecoming will change everyone’s fates forever.‘The queen of literary historical fiction, Barker is an unflinching guide for a trip across ancient Greece’ National Geographic‘In her thrilling retelling of the stories of Cassandra and Clytemnestra, Barker conjures up a world stained by the grief of mothers and daughters. Agamemnon’s palace is the stuff of nightmares, a world of suspicion and fear, plagued by the ghosts of innocents’ Paula Hawkins'You go to her for plain truths, a driving storyline and a clear eye, steadily facing the history of our world' GuardianSHORTLISTED FOR THE ANGLO-HELLENIC LEAGUE RUNCIMAN AWARD 2025Instant Sunday Times bestseller, August 2024

"Suur Achilleus. Hiilgav Achilleus,särav Achilleus, jumalik Achilleus ...Küll alles kuhjatakse epiteete.Meie ei kasutanud ühtegi neist;kutsusime teda lihunikuks."Kui Briseisi linn kreeklaste kätte langeb, puruneb tema senine elu. Kuningannast saab vang, vabast naisest ori, kes antakse saagiks jumalikule sõjamehele Achilleusele. Ning ta pole ainus: nii tolsamal kui ka teistel pika ja kibeda sõja päevil rapsatakse lugematuid naisi kodust ja jagatakse võitlejatele vaevapalgaks.Kistes Trooja sõja suurejoonelise draama lahti harjumuspärasest mehekesksest pilgust, püüab "Tüdrukute vaikimine" tuua lagedale teist, naiste lugu, kaardistades omaaegse kuninganna teekonda läbi ajalookaose, kus ta püüdleb vabaduse ja õiguse poole olla omaenda loo autor.Pat Barker sündis 1943. aastal Yorkshire'is ja alustas kirjanikukarjääri neljandal elukümnendil, pärast Angela Carteri juhendatud kirjutamise lühikursusel osalemist. Nüüdseks on ta avaldanud kuusteist romaani, saanud kirjanduslike teenete eest Briti impeeriumi ordu komandöriks ning võitnud Suurbritannia kõrgeima kirjandusautasu Bookeri auhinna. Ta elab Durhamis Inglismaal."Barker kirjutab tabavalt ja selgelt ning otsib vääramatult inimolemuse tähenduse lätet."THE HERALD"Hiilgav. Satute oma võimete tipul oleva kirjaniku meelevalda."EVENING STANDARD"Barkeri poole tõmbavad klaarid tõed, kaasahaarav süzhee ja selge pilk, mis vaatab vankumatult meie maailma ajaloole näkku."THE GUARDIAN2018. aastal ilmunud romaanis "Tüdrukute vaikimine" kergitab Barker loori Briseisi, unustatud naise loolt, kes on ühe kuulsama sõjaeepose keskmes. Romaan sai naiste kirjandusauhinna, Gordon Burni