Liza's England

Pat Barker is good at characterisation and this was a nice mix of old and modern. Stephen is the social worker who's aim is to encourage and support Liza into moving out of her home so the developers can demolish it...however he and Liza really gel and she tells him of her life from when she was born at the turn of the century (1900) up to the present. We also learn a little of Stephen's own family issues and although Liza's life is by far the more interesting as it's covered so many decades of change, it's interesting to see how similar relationships between human beings (especially parents and children) can be no matter which decade or century. As 'modern day' in this story is 1984 it was interesting to draw comparisons between the unemployment issues and social work load Stephen has, and the recession we're experiencing now in 2009. I felt the ending was realistic and almost comforting, however unpleasant the acts that initiated it. The many many details of one persons life; the relationships and experiences, the loss, the hardship, the happiness...they are all unique to the person who experienced them.

Liza's England is a wake up for someone who grew up in England. I enjoyed it so much that I sent it, and another book, to a friend who lives in Texas but whom was at school with me in England in the '50s. It reminded me of things that my grandmother had told me about, but also later in the 50s, 60s, 70s and so on. For people who have an interest in the time period and/or happenings in Britain, pre and post war, it is an enjoyable read.

Pat Barker is an amazing writer. She manages to reach into us and toy with the very essence of our being and spit it back out onto a page. Read this novel if you can find it (i myself just recently bought it in a small town book store in mint condition). I'm not willing to get into the details or spcifics of the novel, but I will tell you that it took awhile to "get into" the book, but once there, i devowered it