Pat Barker is the author of Union Street, Blow Your House Down, Liza’s England, The Man Who Wasn't There, the Regeneration trilogy (Regeneration, The Eye in the Door, and The Ghost Road, which won the Booker Prize), Another World, Border Crossing, Double Vision, and the Life Class trilogy (Life Class, Toby's Room, and Noonday). She lives in Durham, England.
"“Beautiful…It is as if Barker had found an artifact with an as yet
undeciphered alphabet among the glittering grave treasures of
Homer’s epic."
—The New York Review of Books
"Almost Homeric in its brilliance... Refreshingly
modern... Ms Barker [switches] nimbly between the daily
drudgery of the camp and the horrors of conflict... Venerable
scenes and mythic names magically become new... Domestic
details are piercingly described, bringing the squalor of the camp
to life... A masterful and moving novel."
—The Economist
"Beautifully done."
—Annalissa Quinn, NPR
“Well-written as anything Barker has done before…The Silence of the
Girls is a novel that allows those who were dismissed as girls—the
women trapped in a celebrated historical war—to speak, to be heard,
to bear witness. In doing so, Barker has once again written
something surprising and eloquent that speaks to our times while
describing those long gone.”
—Bethanne Patrick, Washington Post
"A very good, very raw rendition of the Trojan War from the point
of view of the women."
—Kate Atkinson, New York Times Book Review
“An impressive feat of literary revisionism that should be on the
Man Booker longlist…Why isn’t Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls
on this year’s Man Booker longlist? There are always going to be
contentious omissions, I know, but Barker’s not only a veteran—she
won in 1995 for The Ghost Road, the final volume of her magnificent
First World War-set Regeneration trilogy—this latest work is an
impressive feat of literary revisionism that reminds us that there
are as many ways to tell a story as there are people involved…this
is a story about the very real cost of wars waged by men: ‘the
brutal reality of conquest and slavery.’ In seeing a legend
differently, Barker also makes us re-think history.”
—Lucy Scholes, The Independent
"Evocative... The powerful story line is merely the framework; what
make this novel so fascinating are all the interstitial
details."
—John Greenya, The Washington Times
"Barker sings the rage of Briseis, captive queen…in her fiercely
feminist retelling of the Iliad."
—O, the Oprah Magazine
"This is an important, powerful, memorable book that invites us to
look differently not only at The Iliad but at our own ways of
telling stories about the past and the present, and at how anger
and hatred play out in our societies. 'The defeated go down in
history and disappear, and their stories die with them.' Barker's
novel is an invitation to tell those forgotten stories, and to
listen for voices silenced by history and power."
—Emily Wilson, translator of The Odyssey
"Brilliant, beautifully written... Both lyrical and brutal,
Barker's novel is not to savor delicately."
—Library Journal, starred review
“In The Silence of the Girls, [Barker] now gives a voice to the
voiceless…It is not generally known that the omission of Pat
Barker’s Regeneration from the 1991 Booker shortlist by the
all-male panel of judges was the trigger for the foundation of the
Orange (now Women’s) Prize. Barker’s omission from this year’s
Booker longlist is a decision equally lamentable, for The Silence
of the Girls is a book that will be read in generations to
come.”
—Amanda Craig, Daily Telegraph
“This book weaves strands from across Barker’s work, foregrounding
female experience on a vividly evoked battleground.”
—The Sunday Times
“The Silence of the Girls is brilliant—fascinating, riveting
and blood chilling in its matter-of-fact attitude toward war and
those who are its spoils. I loved the book for its craftsmanship,
as well is its wonderful evocation of the ancient world and the
not-so-ancient minds of the people inhabiting it.”
—Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series
“In graceful prose, Man Booker Prize winner Barker, renowned for
her historical fiction trilogies, offers a compelling take on the
events of The Iliad, allowing Briseis a first-person perspective.
Briseis is flawlessly drawn as Barker wisely avoids the pitfall so
many authors stumble into headlong, namely, giving her an
anachronistic modern feminist viewpoint. The army camp, the warrior
mindset, the horrors of battle, the silence of the girls—Barker
makes it all convincing and very powerful. Recommended on the
highest order.”
—Booklist
"There’s a bluntness to Barker’s prose that feels appropriate to
this tale of women’s fates during wartime. But if it insists on the
importance of bearing witness, it’s also about choosing life.”
—Mail On Sunday
"Wryly observant and wholly cognizant... Barker's retelling of some
of the most famous events of The Iliad feels strangely
relevant to today—displaced peoples, war refugees, abandoned women
and children, sexual violence—and assures us that women's voices
will be silent no longer."
—BookPage
“Amid the recent slew of rewritings of the great Greek myths and
classics Barker’s stands out for its force of purpose and earthy
compassion… Barker puts a searing twist on The Iliad to show us
what the worst fate can be.”
—Peter Kemp, The Times
"The arrival of The Silence of the Girls couldn't be more
apropos... Barker has a knack for capturing the voices of women in
everyday life."
—Publishers Weekly
“Its magnificent final section can’t help but make you reflect on
the cultural underpinnings of misogyny, the women throughout
history who have been told by men to forget their trauma... You
feel you are in the hands of a writer at the height of her powers,
her only priority to enlarge the story.”
—Evening Standard
“A lot of these re-imaginings fall flat, but Barker’s new novel,
The Silence of the Girls, is superb... It is as beautifully written
as it is brutal in describing the blood-soaked horrors of war. It’s
out next month and should have been put on the Man Booker longlist.
Silly judges.”
—Robbie Millen, The Times
“If this book doesn’t win all the awards – I mean all ALL of them –
it will be a travesty. Quite the most incredible thing I’ve read
this year and I’ve read a lot of great books. Classic storytelling,
amazing characters And such a lot to say about then – and now.
Circe was a wonderful feminist romp and I loved it, but The Silence
of the Girls is something else all together. For me, this is Pat
Barker’s Handmaid’s Tale moment.”
—Sam Baker, author of The Woman Who Ran
“Barker’s innovation rests on the female perspective… Here she
gives Briseis a wry voice and watchful nature… [The Silence of the
Girls] hums with intelligence.”
—Kirkus Reviews
"An extraordinary novel... [and] the current debate about power and
control in sexual relationships makes it a very timely one. If this
doesn't make every serious literary prize shortlist, I'll be very
surprised."
—Alice O’Keefe, The Bookseller
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