Pat Barker
Pat Barker is an English author of historical fiction and contemporary fiction novels. The subjects of her fiction involve memory, trauma, survival and recovery. Her writing is considered direct, blunt and plainspoken. Pat grew up in a working class family in Thornaby-on-Tees, Yorkshire. She never knew her father (nor did her mother), and because illegitimate children were frowned upon, her mother introduced Pat as her younger sister rather than her daughter. Pat was largely raised by her grandmother and step-grandfather. She attended King James Grammar School and Grangefield Grammar School, before going on to study international history at the London School of Economics. Pat lives in Durham, England.