The experiences and stories of Regeneration are greatly inspired by historical events, sociological influences, and the family history of the author, Pat Barker. Bringing real life poets and their experiences together with a fictional plot surrounding the Great War, Barker was able to produce a novel from an intriguing blend of fact and fiction, one that conveys several aspects of history and pieces them together with first hand knowledge from her family. Tying both the horrific stories from her grandfather in battle, and the familiarity that her husband had with a man in the field of war neuroses, Barker was able to create a novel confronting the psychological effects of World War I.
Born in Thornaby-on-Tees in 1943, Barker endured a childhood of forlorn, one without a father. As an infant, Barker's father was a pilot in the Royal Air Force, but did not survive War World II. …
