Nicola Barker's exuberant novels here receive the scholarly attention they deserve in a collection of essays which moves chronologically through her oeuvre. The chapters are broad-ranging, placing Barker's work in its contemporary context and collectively making a convincing case for her importance as one of our most inventive novelists.

Contents

Foreword

Nicola Barker

The Barkeresque Mode: An Introduction

Berthold Schoene

Indie Style: Reversed Forecast and a Turn-of-the-Century Aesthetic

Ben Masters

'Temporary People': Wide Open as an Island Narrative

Daniel Marc Janes

'You grew up in this shithole, then?': Literary Geographics and the Thames Gateway Series

Len Platt

'The Pair of Opposites Paradox': Ambivalence, Destabilization and Resistance in Five Miles from Outer Hope

Ginette Carpenter

'Woah there a moment. Time out!': Slowing Down in Clear: A Transparent Novel

Beccy Kennedy

Beneath the Thin Veneer of the Modern: Medievalism in Darkmans

Christopher Vardy

Burley Cross Postbox Theft as Comedy

Huw Marsh

'Tuning into My "Awareness Continuum"': Optimized Attention in The Yips

Alice Bennett

Exuberant Narration as Metaphysical Currency in In the Approaches

Berthold Schoene

The Pursuit of Happiness in H(A)PPY, or What a Difference an (A) Makes

Eleanor Byrne

Notes on Contributors

Index