Summary of The Country Girls
“The Country Girls” trilogy follows two Irish girls in the 1950s as they grow up and leave the countryside for Dublin, where they discover freedom and begin their first relationships with men. The trilogy is a coming-of-age cycle that captures the dreams and uncertainties of young women, and the expectations placed upon them in a conservative patriarchal society. Its candid portrayal of female sexuality garnered both praise and controversy upon its publication in the early 1960s.
Reasons to read The Country Girls
Edna O’Brien was a renowned Irish author, whose works often address the roles of women within marriage. “The Country Girls” was her debut novel and is credited with breaking the silence on the social and sexual position of women in Irish society. The trilogy comprises “The Country Girls”, “The Lonely Girl”, and “Girls in their Married Bliss”. “The Country Girls” was banned in Ireland during the 1960s due to its depiction of women’s sex lives which was deemed to “corrupt the minds of young women”. For many years, Edna O’Brien was more appreciated abroad (especially in France, the UK, and the USA) than in Ireland, though in 2001 she received the Irish PEN Award and is now regarded as one of the greatest Irish writers of her generation. In 2019, the BBC included “The Country Girls” on its list of 100 most influential novels. Other notable works by this author include “August is a Wicked Month” and “House of Splendid Isolation”.
Setting: Dublin (Ireland)
Original title: The Country Girls
Year of publication: 1960
Nr of pages: 560
