“The Country Girls” is another book which was recommended in “Great Short Books” which I reviewed last month.  I had heard of O’Brien who died in July of this year at the age of 93, much read and honored.  Hailed by Colum McCann as the leader of the Irish revival in fiction and called one of the greatest writers of her time by such writers as Ian McEwan, Philip Roth, Michael Ondaatje, and John Banville, O’Brien’s writings spanned the genres from her 18 novels (the last one published when she was 88!) to eight short story collections, plays, screenplays, poetry, children’s books, and several non-fiction works.  Honored  by the UK and France, she received the ‘Irish Nobel’, The David Cohen Prize in 2019.

“The Country Girls” was her first novel and was condemned by the Catholic Church and her mother because of its frank depiction of the sexual awakening of teen age girls.  The story of two young girls, Caithleen Brady and Bridget (Baba) Brennan living in a rural Irish village, the story follows them as they live their daily pre-adolescent lives, go off to convent school, and eventually move to Dublin to pursue life.  At every stage, they struggle to maintain their somewhat tumultuous relationship as Cait, dreamy and romantic, yearns for true love, while Baba just wants to experience the life of a single girl. Although they set out to conquer the world together, as their lives take unexpected turns, Cait and Baba must ultimately learn to find their own way.

The book is quietly beautiful.  The relationship between Cait and Mr. Gentleman, a much older, wealthy, refined, married man who lives in the village is especially moving.  Frankly addressing sexual awakening in these girls made O’Brien’s book controversial and set the stage for her subsequent novels which further explored these questions  during the sexual revolution of the 1960’s and ’70’s.

O’Brien is one of those authors who I’d have enjoyed sitting down with and talking to.  From her biography of Lord Byron to her final book “Girl” about the 2014 Chibok kidnapping of dozens of girls in Nigeria, she lived and wrote with boldness and style.  This book is an excellent introduction to the work of this outstanding Irish writer.