A treasure of world literature back in print, featuring a new introduction by Eimear McBride
This omnibus edition includes the novels The Country Girls, The Lonely Girl, and Girls in Their Married Bliss. The country girls are Caithleen "Kate" Brady and Bridget "Baba" Brennan, and their story begins in the repressive atmosphere of a small village in the west of Ireland in the years following World War II. Kate is a romantic, looking for love; Baba is a survivor. Setting out to conquer the bright lights of Dublin, they are rewarded with comical miscommunications, furtive liaisons, bad faith, bad luck, bad sex, and compromise; marrying for the wrong reasons, betraying for the wrong reasons, fighting in their separate ways against the overwhelming wave of expectations forced upon "girls" of every era. The Country Girls Trilogy and Epilogue charts unflinchingly the pattern of women's lives, from the high spirits of youth to the chill of middle age, from hope to despair, in remarkable prose swinging from blunt and brutal to whimsical and lyrical. It is a saga both painful and hilarious, and remains one of the major accomplishments of Edna O'Brien's extraordinary career.The Country Girls Trilogy Review
"O’Brien’s The Country Girls trilogy is so perfectly provocative and emotional for 20th century feminist literature. The depiction of Cait and Baba and their opposites attract friendship is so humorous and as a reader, you cannot help but feel for Cait when Baba is so severe towards her, especially as kids. In the final novel, Girls in Their Married Bliss, the first-person narrative shifts to Baba and readers are able to materialize Baba’s complicated love and concern for her dearest friend. Besides the heartwarming story of friendship in these novels, O’Brien exposes important themes, such as religion, family dysfunction, societal dysfunction, and female sexuality in mid 20th century Ireland."
