Michael, Livi

(British, 1960– )

Michael writes about the lives of northern working-class women with compassion and accuracy, exploring the impoverishments and tragedies of their lives but never descending into grimness, sentiment, or political posturing. Her heroines are vividly real. Start with All the Dark Air (1996) which traces the pregnancy of Julie, living in a rubble-strewn wreck of a terrace with Big Issue-seller Mick, his junkie mate Darren, and damaged, not-quite-there Uncle Si. Julie seeks escape through her weekly meditation group meetings, and gradually learns the stories of the friends she makes there. Her journey towards understanding—of herself and others—is profoundly satisfying. Under a Thin Moon (1992) charts the lives of four young women on a council estate, while Their Angel Reach (1994), the most violent and disturbing of the three, traces the lives of women in a Lancashire village.

Carol Birch, Pat Barker,

Raymond Carver  JR