The scandalous groundbreaking debut that set the world alight, from the beloved multi award-winning Irish author Edna O'Brien.

'The taboo-breaking, the fabulous prose-there's no one like Edna O'Brien.' Anne Enright
'Surprising and beautiful and courageous . . . A beacon.' Megan Nolan

We want to live. Drink gin. Squeeze into the front of big cars and drive up outside big hotels. We want to go places.

Caithleen is a romantic: she dreams of finding a handsome man who will sweep her away and look after her. Her friend Baba thinks this makes her a right-looking eejit. What she wants is money and glamour. Life. As much of it as she can get.

But neither love nor excitement seem possible in their small village, or their convent school. And when they finally make it to Dublin, they find that home isn't as easy to escape as they thought.

This is the first novel in Edna O'Brien's trilogy which revolutionised Irish literature in the 1960s. Banned by the authorities as 'indecent' and burned by the clergy, they were notorious for their frank portrayal of sexual desire: but scandal turned to fame, and made this glorious coming-of-age tale an instant classic that inspires and delights readers to this day.

Details

ISBN13: 9780571399291
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 240
Edition: Main - Re-issue
Publication Date: 20 Oct 2026
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Publication City, Country: London, United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 19.8(H)x12.9(L)
Weight (gm):

Author Biography

Edna O'Brien wrote more than twenty prize-winning works of fiction, as well as plays and non-fiction, which have been translated into over thirty languages and awarded many literary honours. A trailblazing author, her debut novel The Country Girls was banned by the Irish censorship board in 1960 and publicly burned. Born and raised in the west of Ireland, O'Brien lived in London for many years before her death in July 2024.

Reviews