I read this book around 1979, so had forgotten most of it. (By the way, I was 19 years old and going through a cultural awakening. I was obsessed with music and Dexy’s Midnight Runners had a hit with ‘Dance Stance’, a song which comments about Ireland and name checks Oscar Wilde, Brendan Behan, Sean O’Casey, Eugene O’Neill and Edna O’Brien among others. It lead me to read some brilliant literature such as Borstal Boy by Brendan Behan, a particular favourite). I found this book charming and funny and it brings to life rural Ireland in the 1950’s. O’Brien’s writing is very engaging, like having a chat by the fire. The thing I found unsettling was the amount of incidents involving the girls and predatory older men. There isn’t just one dodgy character here, there are more than a few. Also O’Brien is very dismissive regarding Mrs Gentleman and her nervous breakdown, which was probably as a result of her husband’s inappropriate relationships. The scene where Mr Gentleman stands Caithleen up is particularly heartbreaking. The most humorous section was later in the book when the girls are lodging with the Austrian couple (Mein Got!), Joanna and Gustav. It was a joy revisiting this story.

The story of Caithleen growing up in rural Ireland in the late 1950s. She has a drunken abusive father. Her mother dies when Caithleen is a teenager, so she goes to live with the family of her best friend, Baba. I found Baba awful: a sneaky, selfish bully, but she seems to be the only friend that Caithleen has. A well-off local French married man, as old as her father, and known to everyone as Mr Gentleman, takes a liking to Caithleen.  It soon becomes clear to the reader (but not to the very innocent Caithleen) that he's no gentleman, and over a long period he grooms her. She's infatuated with him; none of the other potential boyfriends or relationships could possibly live up to him. Caithleen and Baba go off to be schooled in a convent. But they hate it, and Baba manages to get them both expelled for indecent behaviour. They come home in disgrace. Soon after, when they've left school, they go off together to the bright lights of Dublin, where Caithleen works in a grocer's shop. The two are no longer girls; from this point they're young women. Caithleen's still in touch with Mr Gentleman, who promises to take her on a romantic holiday to Vienna. But it doesn't happen; apparently Caithleen's father has got wind of it and warned him off. Even at the end, when they're 18, Caithleen is still painfully innocent. When she goes for a night out with a man, her German landlady gives her a warning: "Mind you not fill up with baby," she said. I laughed. It was impossible. I had an idea that couples had to be married for a long time before a woman got a baby.  I enjoyed the book and moved on to the second part of the trilogy, called 'The Lonely Girl'. But I found this less entertaining; it seemed to be dragging out the life story of this very innocent young woman. I didn't feel I was learning much new. I'm near the end of it now, and will complete it, but losing interest. 

I settled on The Country Girls as it is 'the famous one' and caused a rumpus when it was published in 1960. In fact, it was banned in Ireland for several years. I found an audio book on Borrowbox read by Edna O'Brien herself. Edna O'Brien has a soft voice, which combined with the gentle Irish accent made listening to the audiobook quite difficult as I would frequently drift off! Also, her gentle style of delivery was a real contrast to the descriptions of the different types of abuse in the story. Another differentiation in a similar vein is her descriptions of items in rooms that she seems to focus on. I seemed to listen to quite a few descriptions of tea sets, salt cellars and cardigans! I assume this style is intended as a real antithesis to the abuses. I think reading rather than listening would have been a clearer experience. 

The book was published in 1960. Although 'kitchen sink' dramas were starting to be written in England, they tended to be about a more class based oppression. I'm not sure there was any comparable literature describing the life of more working class women. Also, until nearly the end of the century, Ireland was a state dominated by the church. Publishing anything in 1960 that dared to suggest that nuns might not be saintly was quite brave. That's before addressing any of the abuses and entitlements of any of the men. I found the characterisations of the men to be somewhat two dimensional, but for the story, it is the large number of men and the different pressures that they bring.  The relationship with Baba was difficult. They were thrown together by circumstance by living in a village, then Baba's family taking Kate in after her mother died, followed by both going to the same convent school. Baba lacked confidence which she played out by constantly gaslighting Kate. I would not have read this book had it not been for the book club. I struggled with the presentation but might have been better had I actually read it rather than listened. Overall, I'm glad I chose it.

My choice was A Pagan Place. Bit of a Hobson's Choice as it was the only one in 'book format' that I had not read. Set in 1930/40s, and dedicated to Harold Pinter, it is the story of an unnamed girl in her early teens in rural Ireland. It is written in three parts with, annoyingly, no chapter breaks, part one sets the scene of her life, family and family conflicts, community, Church, rural existence etc. Using second person narrative it flits around, rather like a young girl’s thoughts. Clever format in retrospect but not immersive when reading.  Part two covers the return of her sister, Emma, the only family member to be named. Her lifestyle is not what would be expected of a good, Catholic girl and has, inevitably, led to a pregnancy. The family, although outraged, pays for her to be looked after, not in a mother and baby home, but away from the village until the premature birth of a baby boy. After giving up the baby for adoption Emma returns to her previous lifestyle. The final part describes the assault on the teenager by charismatic priest, Father Declan. In a small rural community she is seen going with him in his car and by the time she returns home her father has been told, is ready for her and beats her. Using what we would now call bulimia to punish herself the girl volunteers to go to Belgium to become a nun. She is looking back over her life prior to departure.

I found it a hard read because it's intense from the very start and one horrible thing after another occurs. The tension never lets up. I'm glad I finally got to finish it (I'd read about 68% before but started from the beginning again this time). A worthwhile read but depressing and sad. I recall the criticism of Edna O'Brien for daring to write from the viewpoint of a young Nigerian girl and find that criticism totally unfounded. The book reached a larger audience because of the author and the story should be read and noted as widely as possible.

Set in rural Ireland, the book looks at the frustration experienced by women who want more than the limited life on offer. Women are meant to be subservient, trapped by marriage and their qualities likened to those of cows in a farmer’s herd. Rape within marriage is brutal and even a visit to a doctor is a humiliation and an abuse. Life is lonely and boring.  O’Brien also looks at the violent history of Ireland and of those who take up the fight for independence. One such freedom fighter breaks into the isolated house of an elderly woman and holes up there whilst recovering from injuries. The story is bleak, demonstrates the harshness of life, especially for women and is a depressing read.