This opinion was backed up by the responses she received which centered on 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. Awards and nominations Union Street won the Fawcett Society book prize in 1983. It was among the runners up for the Guardian Fiction Prize. Adaptations A film loosely adapted from Union Street, called Stanley & Iris, was released in 1989. Unlike the book, the film is a romantic comedy. It features one character in common with the novel, Iris King. The film is set in the USA, rather than England, and has none of the realism or language that feature in the book. Iris, in the film, is a widow who with a job in a baked goods factory who meets an illiterate cook in the same factory and falls in love.
This opinion was backed up by the responses she received which centered on 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 men's literature, accepted the book and it was published in 1982. Awards and nominations: Union Street won the Fawcett Society book prize in 1983. It was among the runners up for the Guardian Fiction Prize. Adaptations: A film loosely adapted from Union Street, called Stanley & Irving, was released in 1989. Unlike the book, the film is a romantic comedy. It features one character in common with the novel, Irving King. The film is set in the USA, rather than England, and has none of the realism or language that feature in the book. Irving, in the film, is a widower with a job in a baked goods factory who meets an illiterate cook in the same factory and falls in love.