The Lonely Girl

I have several novels by Edna O'Brien on my bookshelf to read. I have read a fair bit of Irish fiction ,but mostly by Roddy Doyle,the McCourts,Brendan Behan,Morgan Llywelyn,and the Agnes Browne Trilogy by Brendan O'Caroll;so I thought I would see what the very well known Edna O'Brien would be like. It gives a very good insight into the life ,culture and overall look at how young adult women,were facing the challenges of making a life for themselves in the mid 1900's in a rapidly changing Ireland.It shows the challenges they faced at the time,what they would face in the future but more importantly the impact their family,past traditions,culture and the church had on everything they did. It is much more a book that describes a way of life and in no way can it be described as "ChickLit" or a romance novel. O'Brien is an excellent ,easy to read writer ,and reading this novel,makes we want to read even more of her books. The ideas and messages in the book are very clear. The only thing I had trouble grasping was the cover photograph of what looks to be four schoolgirls ,arm in arm ,walking down the street.I can't recall any four girls together in the story ;and both Kate and Baba were 21 ,while the ones in the picture appear to be 13 or 14. The stoyy takes place mainly in Dublin ;but portrays a totally different lifestyle we read about with Agnes Browne. I now realize that this is the second book in "The Country Girls Trilogy";the first being "The Country Girl" and the third being ,"Girls in their Married Bliss".I am looking forward to reading them.

The second in Edna O'Brien's "Country Girls" trilogy starts off even more hilariously than the previous entry in the series, with Kate and Baba much where we saw them last, trying to scrape by as working girls in mid-century Dublin and have a good time for themselves as well. But when Kate starts to see Eugene, a middle-aged Jewish filmmaker staying outside the city in a secluded house, the tone becomes more serious (sadly, Baba recedes from much of the rest of the narrative) while the story itself becomes more gripping. Although Eugene seems to provide Kate the love she's always wanted, she must still deal with Eugene's suspicious housekeeper, his estranged wife, his cruel bohemian friends, and her own ignorant drunken relatives from her hometown in the countryside. Most dangerously of all, she must also contend with her own insecurities and jealousies. This isn't the richest novel ever written, but it is exceptionally involving; it was later turned into a film, THE GIRL WITH THE GREEN EYES, with Peter Finch, Rita Tushingham, and Lynn Redgrave.

"Girl with green eyes" is actually based on a previous edition by the title of "The Lonely Girl" which in turn makes part of the "The Country Girls Trilogy." It is a semi-biographical account, a personal reaction to the author's early life experience in an environment (Ireland - early sixties) marked by bigotry, prudishness, poverty, and emigration. Because of O'Brien's use of a sensuous prose and graphic sexual content her books were banned in Ireland. Her work however, obtained success in other parts of the world. O'Brien has written plays, children's books, essays, screenplays, and non-fiction about Ireland.The main characters, Kate and Baba, have had a strict Roman Catholic upbringng, in a family farm in Dublin; both are insecure, and when their lives face an upturn they are not able to overcome their social constrains, they become victims of their upbringing. They are destined to fail in their marriages and have a disillusioned adulthood.O'Brien's writings express concern with the status of women in society, their disappointments in sexual love, and their inability to reach happiness and fulfillment given the social constraints which bind them. Her male characters tend to be violent, treacherous, or weak, while the heroines experience solitude and frustation.

The cover of this edition is curious and belies the real subject of this book. It's hot pink background and depiction of lipstick, perfume bottle and a sealed letter, promise a sweet romantic story for girls on the go. I picked this book up because of the author's notoriety and because I am currently interested in literature about Ireland.Perhaps this book is out of date and perhaps since the 60s it has been upstaged by current issues and stories. I am told that when it was published it was banned from Ireland. The subject matter remains serious and, although not shocking in the strictly moral sense, it is emotionally unnerving. The brutal loss of innocence is never easy to witness and this book proves this.This is the story of Caithleen, a country girl of 22 who is working in Dublin in a grocery shop. She meets an older married-but-separated man and becomes smitten. She eventually moves in with him in his isolated house outside the city whereupon they are both menaced by her father and his peers for living in sin. Other constraints spell doom for this couple. Caithleen is neither sophisticated enough for Eugene's social milieu nor wily enough to compensate her lack of cleverness through other charms. Eventually she conspires to leave him in the naive belief that he will follow her. He doesn't follow and thus her broken heart is doubly battered. That pithy old saw, "marry in haste, repent at your leisure" seems to apply here, in a direct way for Eugene, and in bitter irony for Caithleen.Edna O'Brien is an adept storyteller and this piece moves relentlessly towards its bitter end without a single sidetracked moment. She is clever enough to refrain from comment on Eugene's callous nature and his overriding irresponsibility and, through his actions, shows that he is his own unwitting victim. Caithleen's hope, bafflement, disillusion and raw pain are all at the fore of this tale. To my mind, given that loss of innocence is not yet out-of-date, this book is as current today as it was in the early 60s.The story is embedded with details of Dublin: Clery's department store, O'Connell Street, The Liffey, the Customs House, Molesworth Street, the Shelbourne Hotel and an ashtray with "Guinness is good for you" written on it in red are among the cited Dublin icons which surround these characters.

If you're looking for a pulp fiction romance don't read this book. On the other hand, if you are open to a subtle, thoughtful book more akin to good literature than dime store characterizations then consider reading The Lonely Girl, a "slice of life" fiction that gives us a peek into the life of a very young, very immature, Dublin girl who has an affair with a much older man. At first blush I was fustrated with the girl thinking she didn't have much of a backbone. But when I started to think more about her age (21) and her utter lack of worldly experience I thought the author did an excellent job depicting the emotional gulf that permanently separates the two: the girl has not had a chance to mature and become her own person, how can she ever maintain a relationship with the older, more worldly man? I think many women (if they are being honest) will also see a bit of their young selves in the Lonely Girl.