The Country Girls

Edna O'Brien’s novel The Country Girls (1960) was the first of a trilogy that included The Lonely Girl (1962) and Girls in Their Married Bliss (1964). The trilogy was re-released as a single volume in 1986, with a different ending to the final book, and an epilogue. The protagonist and narrator of The Country Girls is only-child Caithleen “Kate” Brady; her childhood friend Bridget “Baba” Brennan is the novels' deuteragonist. The women are best friends, despite being opposites in most respects. They grow up together in Ireland before traveling together to England, where they come of age. Looking back as adults, their former lives – and former friendship – begins to take on a patina of nostalgia. The novels, which were said to be loosely based on O'Brien's life, provoked widespread scandal in Ireland when they were first published because of their frank treatment of sex and sharp critique of Irish society in the post World War II period. The Irish Censorship board banned them, and there was a considerable public outcry against them. Nonetheless, O'Brien won the Kingsley Amis Award in 1962 for the first book, and a film was adapted from the trilogy in 1983.

When Kate Brady is just a child, her mother drowns, powerfully shaping Kate's destiny in a number of ways – not the least because, afterward, she goes to live for a time with her friend Baba Brennan's family. When she goes home for the summer, her father, unable to keep things afloat, loses the family farm. Kate's romantic life begins quite early; only fourteen years old, she falls in love with her protector, whom she refers to as “Mr. Gentleman.” During a school break, after Kate has begun to physically mature (she notes her new plumper legs, which Mr. Gentleman has noticed), he admits to loving her back. He is not the only one to develop feelings for young Kate, however. Jack Holland also claims to love her and says that he wants to marry her.

Things are different for Baba, who, unlike Kate, is not a very good student or a favorite of the nuns. She hates school so much that on several occasions she considers running away from it, although she never goes through with the plan. Finally, Kate finds herself in hot water, and, after complaining to Baba, Baba devises a plan – she will get them both expelled. Baba orchestrates the writing of an offensive note about Father Tom, the chaplain, and Sister Mary, and although they both feel bad about it, the girls sign their names to it. They leave the note in a public spot where they are sure it will be found – and sure enough, it is. The girls are expelled according to plan. Afterward, Baba's father realizes how manipulative his daughter is and the power she holds over Kate in particular.



After their expulsion, Kate forgoes using her scholarship at a different convent school to follow Baba to Dublin. They move in together, and vivacious Baba, unsurprisingly, loves busy city life. Dreamy Kate feels out of her element but is able to secure a job as a clerk in a grocery store. One night, the girls go on a double date with two older men – which doesn't end well. However, as usual, Mr. Gentleman arrives to help Kate out of a jam. As time goes by, Baba and Kate drift apart; Kate's time is increasingly taken up by Mr. Gentleman, who comes to call her his “his country girl” and has plans to deflower her. Baba has continued to see one of the middle-aged men from the double date.

Baba catches tuberculosis and is sent to a sanatorium. While Baba is recovering, Kate is asked by Mr. Gentleman to go on a trip with him to Vienna, where they will finally consummate their affair. Kate is so obsessed with planning the trip that she misses the fourth anniversary of her mother's death. As the novel closes, she waits for Mr. Gentleman to show up to whisk her off on their romantic getaway. He never arrives; instead, she receives a telegram. Mr. Gentleman tells her that her father has forbidden him to continue seeing her, and further, that his wife has had a nervous breakdown.

O'Brien's novels, besides comprising an essential snapshot of life in Ireland in the wake of World War II, are some of the first Irish novels to deal candidly with sex, and from the point of view of female characters. This is why they were widely reviled in Ireland their day – The Country Girls inspired organized book burnings, including one in O'Brien's hometown – but today, O'Brien is seen as a pioneering voice in Irish fiction. This is true in a technical sense as well: O'Brien's narrative makes excellent use of what is referred to as “free indirect style” – a third-person narrative written in the vocabulary and grammatical style of its protagonist (which are usually features of first-person narrations).