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Union Street (Virago Modern Classics) (Paperback)

By: Pat Barker
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Virago Press Ltd
ISBN: 0860682838
ISBN-13: 9780860682837
Released: 13 May 1982
RRP: £7.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Union Street - By: Debralondon, 10 Nov 2008
Shocking in its detail of what working class life was like for women in the 1970s - not so long ago & yet a world away. I was reallly moved by this book as it brought back memories of my own childhood which was alll about poor women dealing with the pain of female existence & the violence & poverty of men who knew no better. I found this book haunting & the characters are still with me a week later.
Wonderfully readable - By: Enn Dee, 12 Oct 2006
I took this on holiday & read it in a day. I thought alll the characters were wonderfully constructed. The way Pat Barker makes each chapter separate but linked to the others is very well done.
I felt sort of sad at the end because the book had ended. Highly recommended!!
Beautiful, heartbreaking, yet strangely optimistic. - By: Miss, 20 Feb 2006
I have to admit when I opened this book & read the first couple of pages, I was slightly taken aback by the crude tone & language used, & wondered if this novel was for me. However I perservered & within minutes I was completely absorbed. The book is incredibly easy to read, the characters are very well developed & you are quickly drawn into their world & made to sympathise with them.

The book contains the stories of 7 women alll living on the same street in Northern England. It begins with the story of 11 year old Kelly, raped & traumatised, who struggles to deal with such an experience without much support. Then, chapter by chapter, it deals with the stories of 5 older women in the street, from about the ages of 20 up to 60, alll dealing with various problems such as pregnancy, post natal depression, prostitution, the death of a husband, etc. Finallly the book ends with the story of Alice, a stroke victim determined to end her life on her own terms without the interference of her uncaring son or a nursing home.

Whilst this might seem depressing, it actuallly manages to be quite uplifting. The harsh realistic imagery of the poverty & hardship present in the lives of these women is contrasted with the beauty of nature, the power of bonds between women, & the cyclical ongoing nature of life & love. The connection made between Kelly & Alice is particularly beautiful & heartrending.

It's also important to note that this isn't just a book for women - we read it on our university course & for a lot of the men, this was their favourite book of the module.

I had best say, though, that if you dislike hearing about the less glossy side of life, & are particularly sensitive, this may not be for you. Otherwise, definitely worth buying. Unreservedly 5 stars.

Rarely have characters endured such hopeless lives. - By: , 09 May 2001
Pat Barker describes three generations of Union Street dwellers, a bleak street of smalll, workers cottages, somewhere in the North East of England.

The stories that the seven principal characters have to tell, have the location & "life as a constant struggle" in common, but the overwhelming theme is the hopelessness of their lives, & yet in some characters, I saw an incredible desire to make the best of their circumstances. From the young girl living with her dark secret, to the workers at the local cake factory, the mother facing the shame of her daughter becoming pregnant, & ending with the courageous tale of the old matriach moving toward her own death, determined to die with dignity, demonstated so vividly by her struggle to regain the safety of her home having falllen heavily while trying to gather coal from the back yard.

I was truly enthrallled with the characters, & lived every moment of their lives through the authors words. Quite siuperb.

Gritty and absorbing - By: , 15 Mar 2001
It took me two brave tries to finish this book, & I'm not normallly someone who does that. So here is a caveat for anyone who may react the same way I did: this novel shows Barker's power to shock has been, if anything, almost toned down with age. It begins with the rape of a 12 year old, & Barker doesn't let you off the hook later on (a backstreet abortion, childbirth & not the easy way either, a grisly yet touching death). If, like me, you're a rape victim, or plain squeamish, this disturbing book may not be for you. If you can cope, it is a powerful & disturbing portrayal of several women's lives in a vicious, poverty-stricken world: the despair, the ugliness, the violence. And yet astonishing strength & courage still come through; love & loyalty still exist, as far as they can in such a life.

For those of us with a far more privileged lifestyle, it too could have been named "Another World". Strangely beautiful through the harshness.