Blow Your House Down

Ms. Pat Barker is a wonderful writer. I have read and enjoyed almost all her work, and while the tone is rarely joyous, nothing prepares you for, "Blow Your House Down". By saying difficult I do not mean complex, rather uncomfortable. The degrading world that she portrays makes Dickensian England appear to be family entertainment.The story is generally about women who are prostitutes, generally not by choice or to feed an addiction. Most are Mothers paying the bills after the men have finished their abuse and left. Specifically the story centers on a time when a serial killer of prostitutes is at large. This is not a lengthy book and it is not filled with dozens of murders. However, once during the book Ms. Barker portrays a murder and its aftermath in a manner so shocking I put the book down before continuing.The guts this writer has are amazing. There is nothing stylized, clever or fascinating about this crime. She serves up the act of murder in as disturbing a manner as I have ever read. It is raw and graphic, and totally appropriate, but it is brutal reading. This is not TV nonsense; there is nothing to soften her story. It is about as razor edged as it could be. I honestly cannot imagine it being more coldly depicted.The writer is not heartless, the book is also full of friendships and compassion, however the two do not mix, and she does not give the reader or her characters a break. There is no pause, no rest, no easing of the tremendous pressure even at the book's end. Ms. Barker writes brilliantly and if you can take her unadorned view of reality you will have a reading experience you will not soon forget.

a slim paperback from pat barker. tightly written with believeable dialogue. it describes the yorkshire ripper crimes from the perspective of the women most affected, those working as prostitutes in the north of england. anyone familiar with this series of crimes will remember the shadow it cast over these english cities and the women who lived in them. pat barker's women jump off the page as genuine. her descriptions of domestic life could almost be described as lyrical if it wasn't for the tautness of her prose. the chapter written from the offenders point of view is perhaps the weakest part of what is a very strong short book. tight. succinct. probably a lesson in there for modern writers who often seem to use too many words to say too little. worth reading not only for the suspense in the plot but especially for the beauty and directness of the writing itself.