The Country Girls (The Country Girls Trilogy, #1) in Never too Late to Read Classics

Nov 18, 2022 Sara rated it liked it

Shelves: women-writers, classics, rural-life, ireland, coming-of-age

The Country Girls is the first installment in the Country Girls Trilogy by Edna O’Brien. As is typical with trilogies, this novel would feel somewhat incomplete if the ending were the actual end of the story. As it is, this first installment was captivating and I picked up the second immediately and began the continuation of the story.

Set in 1950’s Ireland, we meet Caithleen Brady and Baba Brennan, two 14 year olds setting out to explore the world. We follow them through a couple of early traum The Country Girls is the first installment in the Country Girls Trilogy by Edna O’Brien. As is typical with trilogies, this novel would feel somewhat incomplete if the ending were the actual end of the story. As it is, this first installment was captivating and I picked up the second immediately and began the continuation of the story.

Set in 1950’s Ireland, we meet Caithleen Brady and Baba Brennan, two 14 year olds setting out to explore the world. We follow them through a couple of early traumas, convent boarding school, and into a life alone in the big city of Dublin. Baba is a very racy young lady, who seems often to invite trouble; Caith is a naive girl who is easy prey for the charming, and callous, Mr. Gentleman.

The character of Mr. Gentleman is a particularly stunning study of the mores and class divides of the time and the manner in which women are judged for sexuality vs. men. He is a wealthy married man, and his inappropriate attention to such a young girl made my skin crawl, but at the same time I understood the allure he would have had for a girl of much lower standing, who wants for both appropriate affection and material security. What I found particularly interesting were the reactions of other adults to Mr. Gentleman, and the way in which no one questioned his behavior from the beginning.

I can imagine Edna O’Brien was pretty shocking to the Ireland of her time. The picture she draws seems starkly realistic to me and exposes the repressed attitudes of the church for the ineffective and often harmful stance they took on young women’s sexual feelings. In fact, the lack of understanding of these girls as young women with curiosity and desires seems almost to push them toward a dangerous path.

O’Brien’s writing is fluid and precise. The story flows effortlessly and the characters stir exactly the emotions I believe O’Brien wishes her readers to feel. I am looking forward to the rest of the story, and hoping Caith, and even the very difficult to like, Baba, will become wiser as they mature.
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Aug 17, 2015 Chrissie rated it it was ok

Shelves: audible-us, fiction, life-stages, 2015-read, ireland

I like Edna O'Brien's writing, lyrical is the perfect word to describe it. Good dialogs. Her characters become distinct.

The plot left me cold. Totally boring. Not only do you need good writing you need an interesting story for a novel to work. We follow two girls, Caithleen and Baba, 14 years of age when the book opens. Two country girls, as the title so aptly indicates. The setting is western Ireland, outside Limerick, the 1960s. This is a coming of age story, about friendship and blossoming i ...more

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Aug 23, 2019 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: family-saga, audio-books, fiction-20th-century, read-2019, irish-literature, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you

From BBC Radio 4:
Kate and Baba – girls who occupy the twin poles of romance and realism - have nonetheless been friends forever, united by a tacit resilience to the world they have to endure. In this, the opening episode, Kate’s father is off on a drinking binge, so the farm has to cope without him.

Cast
Kate ..... Charlie Murphy
Baba ..... Aoibhinn McGinnity
Mama ..... Catherine Cusack
Dada ..... David Ganly
Hickey ..... Lloyd Hutchinson
Jack Holland ..... Jonjo O’Neill
Miss Moriarty ..... Helen Clapp ...more

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Aug 23, 2015 Janet rated it it was amazing

I loved this book. It is a wonderful and realistic coming of age book, probably a bit autobiographical. The author was taught by the Sisters of Mercy, therefore her knowledge of the school setting. My convent school experience was similar, so this was a bit of a trip down memory lane. I can still remember the walls, the religious "art" on all of the walls, the darkness, the sternness. The characters' traits were spot on also. This was a wonderful read. ...more

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