Development
During the 1970s Barker wrote three manuscripts for what she describes as "middle-class novels" which got positive responses from publishers but were all rejected for publication. Due to these rejections she thought her books would probably never be published so felt free to work on Union Street, a book which she "didn't think could be published". This opinion was backed up by the responses she received which centered around the book being too bleak and depressing In 1978 Barker took part in a writers' workshop run by the Arvon Foundation at Lumb Bank near Heptonstall and met author Angela Carter. Carter read Union Street and encouraged Barker to send the manuscript to the publisher Virago Press. Virago, a specialist in women's literature, accepted the book and it was published in 1982.
Read more about this topic: Union Street (novel)
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“Ultimately, it is the receiving of the child and hearing what he or she has to say that develops the child’s mind and personhood.... Parents who enter into a dialogue with their children, who draw out and respect their opinions, are more likely to have children whose intellectual and ethical development proceeds rapidly and surely.”
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