
Press Reviews
- Harper's
Barker's creative vision is as in touch with the psychologically primordial as Melville's
Katha Pollitt
New York Times Book ReviewSwift, spare, and utterly absorbing ... [Barker] makes us see her characters from within ... and thereby reveals the full individuality and humanity of women who have got short shrift both in literature and in life
- Nova
Barker's talent for gently sifting through the hidden depths of the human psyche is awesome
Elizabeth Ward
Washington Post Book WorldA courageous and disturbing novel
Belinda Webb
GuardianInspired by the reign of the Yorkshire Ripper, it raised a theme that would later rear its head in the media coverage of the Ipswich murders - how the serial killer is often mythologised with a label, whereas the women are just "prostitutes". Despite its black humour, it is a deeply political book
- New York Times
Mrs. Barker's feminist argument is clear enough - sexual violence puts all women at risk, there are no ''good'' women and ''bad'' women, the victim of a sex crime is herself treated as a criminal
- HARPER'S
Barker's creative vision is as in touch with the psychologically primordial as Melville's
- NY TIMES BOOK REVIEW
Swift, spare, and utterly absorbing ... [Barker] makes us see her characters from within... and thereby reveals the full individuality and humanity of women who have got short shrift both in literature and in life
- NOVA
Barker's talent for gently sifting through the hidden depths of the human psyche is awesome