The Eye in the Door
by Pat Barker
Category: Fiction / A - C
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Publication date: 25 August 1994
Number of pages: 288
Prizes:
Winner of Guardian Fiction Prize 1993.
Description:
Drawing of the history of the Pemberton Billing libel trial in which all Britain's military troubles were laid at the door of the British homosexuals, themes of persecution and prejudice are explored alongside questions of class and identity. By the author of "Regeneration" and "Union Street".
Review:
Pat Barker's sequel to the much-praised Regeneration won the Guardian Fiction Prize. Her protagonist, Major Billy Prior, relives the nightmare of the trenches under hypnosis. Almost harder to bear is his sense of isolation; as 'a temporary gentleman', he is alienated from his fellow officers and from his working-class background. He is a natural double agent, spying for the Ministry of Munitions on his own kind, whether these are pacifists, socialists or homosexuals. A powerful indictment of war, and of the social and psychological factors which sustain it. (Kirkus UK)
What the papers say:
Gripping, moving, beautifully constrcted and profoundly intelligent Independent on Sunday
In Stock: 18 copies
