First published 1998
The residents of Dagenham navigate their daily struggles in this collection of interconnected stories set in the East London borough. Barker introduces readers to ordinary people facing extraordinary moments of clarity and confusion. A woman questions whether anything beautiful can emerge from her industrial surroundings. Neighbors discover unexpected connections across the divide of their council flats. Workers at the Ford plant grapple with changes that threaten their sense of purpose. Each character searches for meaning in a landscape dominated by factories and housing estates. Their stories weave together to form a portrait of a community where hope and disappointment walk hand in hand. The emotional core lies in how these characters find small victories and profound losses in the most mundane circumstances.
Genres: literary-fiction, domestic-fiction, family-life, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, ordinary-people
Setting: Dagenham, East London
Period: 21st-century
212 pages · Paperback · Fourth Estate