Nicola Barker (1966-present, b. Ely) is a contemporary British author I particularly enjoy reading. Her books are quintessentially English, (for the most part) and very different from each other, although several are set around the ‘Thames gateway’ area of the Isle of Sheppey and Canvey Island. What they do have in common is always a sense of humour, which ranges from subtle to bat-shit-crazy!
- Reversed Forecast (1994) – read Pre-Blog
- Small Holdings (1995)
- Wide Open (1998)
- Five Miles from Outer Hope (2000)
- Behindlings (2002)
- Clear: A Transparent Novel (2004) – read Pre-blog
- Darkmans (2007)
- Burley Cross Postbox Theft (2010) – read 2010
- The Yips (2012)
- In the Approaches (2014)
- The Cauliflower (2016) – read 2026
- H(a)ppy (2017)
- I Am Sovereign (2019) – read 2020
- TonyInterruptor (2025) – read 2025
Collections of stories
- Love Your Enemies (1993)
- Heading Inland (1996)
- The Three Button Trick: Selected Stories (2001)
Short stories
- The Free Hand (1998)
- By Force of Will, Alone (2009)
