Josephine Edna O’Brien was born in 1930, in
Tuamgraney, County Clare, a small rural village in the west of Ireland. The
youngest of four children, she grew up in the atmosphere of Irish National
Catholicism of the 1940s, marked by an alcoholic father, who was a farmer, and
a strict mother in religious practice who considered writing “a path of
perdition”.
After finishing primary school in her village, she was
educated at the Convent of Sisters of Mercy, a boarding school in Galway.
In her 20s, she went to university in Dublin where she graduated in Pharmacy in
1950 and where she worked briefly as an apothecary. In 1952, against her
parents’ wishes, she married the writer Ernest Gebler, with whom she had two
children. They settled in London, where O’Brien turned to writing as a
full-time occupation. Ten years later, in 1962, she escaped from a loveless
marriage and moved to the desolate suburban London where, at least, she felt
free to write.
Her life has been divided between England, where she
has lived for more than 50 years and where she writes, and Ireland, where her
writing comes from and where it endlessly returns, exploring her home country
from a more detached perspective.
Edna O’Brien has publicly acknowledged that James
Joyce’s works, especially A Portrait of the Artist as a Young
Man, were her main inspiration and led her to devote to literature for the
rest of her life.
Her first novel, The Country Girls,
written when she was 30, was published in 1961. It is the history of two
girls who live in a backward and repressive country, especially in rural areas
of Ireland. They grow up in their strict homes, attend a convent school from
which they are expelled and travel to Dublin and London in search of imaginary
opportunities, love and sex. This book was considered a scandal in her country
and she was labelled an enemy of Ireland. Her family felt humiliated by this
book. It was the first instalment of a trilogy, written in autobiographical
style, completed with The Lonely Girl, later published as Girl
with Green Eyes, and Girls in the Married Bliss. Now,
these two books are set in London, and there the protagonists
become disillusioned with marriage and men in general.
She has written more than twenty works of fiction
where the main themes are Ireland and women. Some of them are: The High
Road, Down by the River, In the Forest, The Light of Evening, The
Little Red Chairs, and the last one, written in 2019, Girl, which
was inspired by the Nigerian schoolgirls who were kidnapped by members of Boko
Haram.
Other notable works include a dramatic work about
Virginia Woolf, two important biographies, of James Joyce and Lord Byron, and
an autobiographical essay called Mother Ireland.
She also has published nine short story collections
where their setting varies, although Ireland appears in several of them. One of
them is From Mrs Reinhard and Other Stories, where In
the Hours of Darkness is included.
She has died recently, in London, on July 27th, 2024,
at the age of 93.
THE COUNTRY GIRLS
Following the plot of the book, it’s easy to divide
this novel in three parts.
First part and first chapter. Last
day of the school.
Edna O’Brien writes in first person, remembering her
real life when she was fourteen years old, the story of Cait and Baba, two
young Irish country girls. They live in a rural area of Ireland, (County Clare),
a backward and repressive country. They grow up in their strict homes and they spend
their childhood together, going to the same school.
Edna O’Brien presents the following characters:
Cathleen, “Kate” or “Cait” (in Irish) Brady, the protagonist. She is a
charming and naïve narrator girl who describes only one day of her life in
this first chapter.
And the other ones in order of appearance:
The father’s absence. Cait begins to talk about the figure of her father
with coldness, with some insinuations: “The old reason”, “He had not
come here”. We will understand later her father drinks too much, has a
terrible temper, and a tendency to go on benders and then returning home to beat his
wife.
Deep love for her mother, called Mama in the story. Cait says, “She was the
best mama in the world”. What happens to her mother along the story? There
is a premonition when Cait pronounces these sentences: “She straightened the
cap on my head and kissed me three or four times”.
They are the poor Brady family.
Bridge, “Baba” Brennan, Cait’s best friend, is the novel’s deuteragonist.
Despite being opposites in most respects, because Cait is dreamy and kindly
romantic, and Baba is a lying and jealous girl who wants to dominate many times Cait’s behaviour, they are sometimes allies, and sometimes enemies. She is
the daughter of the rich couple Brennan.
Baba’s parents would appear frequently throughout the story.
Hickey, he is the underpaid farm labourer who preserves the
family’s fields and animals, and keeps the place going. Cait says “I love
him”, but later she changes the word “love” saying “what I really meant
was that I was fond of him”.
Jack Holland, owner of the local grocery store who claims loving
Cait and says that he wants to marry her. We know he has always been attracted
to Cathleen’s mother, but now he is showing his love to Cathleen.
Miss Moriarty, the teacher. As it is the last day of school, Cait
and Baba are going to say goodbye to her, and Cait brings her a bunch of lilacs.
The only one character that doesn’t appear in this
first chapter is Mr Gentleman, (her real name is de Maurier), a rich French lawyer,
much older than Cait. He lives in a nearby manor house with his wife and
several children. He has a very important role in the novel. Cait feels attracted to Mr Gentleman, and she
imagines her future life with him. Mr Gentleman will be her protector
and...
If you read the book, you will know about the
relationship between Cait and Mr Gentleman.
Edna O’Brien also describes the rural landscapes of
green meadows and wild flowers of Ireland. We are in the poor Brady’s farm,
near County Limerick, where fields must be ploughed with effort, and we’re
going to discover the daily habits and the atmosphere of Cait’s home when she
gets up in the morning and has her breakfast. She describes an Irish village
with many small details as the names of trees, flowers, birds…
At the end of this first part, Cait, rushing home to
tell her mama she’s won a scholarship to go to a convent school, something very
significative happens...
Second part. The oppressive forces of the religious education.
Cait and Baba attend a convent school. They discover
that life in the convent is terrible: only prayers, hours of study, and punishments.
Cait feels very sorry and sad, but she shines academically. Baba gets into
trouble because she hates this school so much, that on several occasions she
considers running away. And according to a plan that the manipulator Baba
develops, they are both expelled. Their life will change.
Third part. From repression to
freedom.
After their expulsion, they move together to Dublin. Baba
is sent to a secretarial college and will follow her studies, but Cait will
work in a grocery store. They will go to London in search of imaginary
opportunities, love and sex in the big city. They struggle to maintain their
somewhat tumultuous relationship. At the end of this part, the two girls are 18
years old. And someone who appears along the story clams to find “his country
girl” but…
Do you imagine how the book could finish? A happy new
life in Dublin, London or another place? Or a sad ending?
SOME REMARKS
I hope to encourage you reading this sensitive book because
I think:
Events, people, feelings, emotions and landscape are
very well described.
It’s a realistic portrait of Irish people.
The book talks about the discovering of sex without
any taboo. This frank treatment of sex and the sharp critique of Irish society
in the post-World War II period was considered scandalous at the time in
Ireland. But I have not found the obscenities they cite in some references.
Tender and sad book!
QUESTIONS
-What are the meaning of these expressions (page 6, lines 22), “A nun you are in my eye”, “the Kerry Order”, “two heads in one pillow”?
-In your view, using an alarm clock, is it a natural way of waking up? Timetables, are they a better way of organizing our lives, or they're only another way to control us?
-People usually reserve the best plates, tablecloth, cutlery... for visitors. What do you think it's the reason for this? Is it also your habit?
-Aren't you angry when you see an oppressed person happy with their way of life? What would you say to this person?
-In the story there's no much hygiene. In your opinion, does our society exaggerate with cleanness?
-Do you have a kind of talisman you put under your pillow (to sleep better, to have sweet dreams, to not snore...)?
-In your opinion, what is the best way to become your teacher's favourite?
-What is your point of view about religious education? Is it necessary to teach religion in the schools?
-What is the meaning of the last sentence, the maxim "Weep and you weep alone"? Is it true, or it's only an old wives' saying?
VOCABULARY
ankle socks, dew, hedge, canned sweets, turf house, beamed up, pullet, chicken run, he did his water, flag, flush, clippers, range, sharp, stingy, bog, simmering, paling, boulders, meal, moping, pick your steps, blackbird, fudge, sprees, bout
