The Country Girls by Edna O'BrienMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The first book in the trilogy by Edna O’Brien tells the tale of two girls, Kate and Baba, setting out from the rural world of Ireland in the fifties and sixties. The cleverer and more sensitive of the two, Kate, wants to find romance, while Baba is much more down to earth and determined to squeeze everything she can out of the world, starting with the city of Dublin. The whole story is narrated from Kate’s point of view, in the first person, and is often disturbing as she naively moves from one relationship to another. Often she has wildly unsuitable crushes on older men, and finds it difficult to consider men nearer her own age either mature or romantic enough for her bookish ‘ideals.’ Baba is very often cruel and insincere with her men and typically with Kate. Despite this the two girls seem to rely upon each other at different times, even when Kate reveals her pain to the reader, and you realise that it is still the pair of girls against the world.
The inadequacy of many men in those communities and times, as well as in terms of relationships with the women in their lives becomes so apparent. On the one hand they need to escape from the smothering by their mothers, while they are obsessed with dominating any other women, including sisters, girlfriends and wives, on the other hand. The conversations are realistic, sometimes amusing around Baba, but more usually tragic when Kate is involved and she is revealing her own heart through her thoughts. This novel is completely engaging and revealing; highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a poignant family tale.
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