Pat Barker's debut novel, Union Street, finds its origins in two significant postwar literary movements in Britain: the social realism of the late 1950s and 1960s and the feminist writings of the 1970s and early 1980s. The earlier trend of social realism often featured male authors and protagonists, focusing on the lived experiences of the working class in regional settings. In contrast, feminist novels of the subsequent decades highlighted the awakening consciousness of middle-class women. Barker's work uniquely merges these streams, shifting the narrative to emphasize the inevitability of suffering, rather than overt political or social protest.

Through Union Street, Barker carved a niche for herself as a distinctive voice in British fiction, earning recognition as one of the twenty Best Young British Novelists by the Guardian and winning the prestigious Fawcett Prize for Fiction in 1983. Her narrative focus on the hardships faced by women in society continued beyond her first novel. In Blow Your House Down (1983), Barker explores the perilous lives of prostitutes haunted by the presence of a violent rapist and murderer. Her 1986 novel, The Century’s Daughter, further cements her commitment to highlighting stories of marginalized women, painting a vivid picture of their struggles and resilience.