Barton was born in and grew up in the village of Newburgh in Lancashire, and was educated at Winstanley College[1] and read for an English degree at Worcester College, Oxford[citation needed].
She has also written for Q magazine, The Word, and Intelligent Life, and broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
Much of her writing relates to rock and pop music, and until late 2011 she wrote a fortnightly column about music for The Guardian's Film and Music supplement, called "Hail, Hail, Rock and Roll", as well as a weekly column on women's issues for the newspaper's G2 supplement, called "The View from a Broad".
[2] Her novel, Twenty-One Locks (2010), recounts the story of "a young small-town girl facing the biggest decision of her life."
[2] A series of short stories about Northern soul was broadcast on Radio 4 in 2011.