Barker is a Writer, Editor, Historical Consultant, and Time Traveler. She draws on her experience as an archivist and living-history interpreter to write historical novels about seldom-examined corners of the past. She got a firsthand taste (sometimes literally!) of 19th-century New England rural life as a costumed historical interpreter at Old Sturbridge Village, a living history museum in Massac
husetts. There she milked cows, mucked out barns, and found inspiration for her critically acclaimed historical novels, A Difficult Boy (Holiday House, 2008) and Mending Horses (Holiday House, 2014). Her books have been praised for their complex, nuanced characters, rich period details, and fluid storytelling. Numerous recommended reading lists have featured her novels, and they have received honors from literary, educational, and historical organizations, including PEN New England, the International Reading Association, and the Massachusetts Center for the Book. In "A Difficult Boy" (Holiday House, 2008), their shared love for a horse brings together two indentured servants who must overcome their differences to outwit their tyrannical master and win their freedom in 19th-century New England. In"Mending Horses" (Holiday House, 2014), three outcasts—an Irish horse whisperer, a roving peddler, and a runaway fleeing an abusive father—mend each other’s broken lives as they heal a circus’s mistreated horses. Barker is also the author of two non-fiction books: "Images of America: Chicopee" (Arcadia Publishing, 1998) and "140 Years of Providential Caring: The Sisters of Providence of Holyoke, Massachusetts" (co-authored with Suzanne Strempek Shea and Tom Shea).
