The Country Girls

 The Country Girls (1960) by Edna O'Brien [rec by Ivan Kreilkamp]

The girls in question are Caithleen "Kate" Brady and Bridget "Baba" Brennan. They live in a small, repressed village in Ireland. Kate is poor. Her mother works hard on the farm and her father spends most of his time drinking the money that is supposed to go towards bills. Baba's family is better off, her father is called "Doc" (but seems to be a veterinarian--he's called out to work on animals, anyway). When Kate is still young her mother drowns and she lives for a time with Baba's family. She is quite good at school and earns a scholarship to a convent school where Baba will also attend. But Baba is quite unhappy with the rules of the convent and is no scholar and convinces Kate that they need to get expelled so they can go off to Dublin and make their own way. Baba just wants to earn enough of a living to have have a good time, Kate is more romantic and wants to find someone to love and love her. The end of this first part of a trilogy of stories, finds Baba diagnosed with tuberculosis and off to a sanitarium and Kate still searching for love.

I can definitely see the importance of this novel--especially for the time it was written. It provides a snapshot of Ireland in the years following the second world war and it was one of the earliest to be so candid about sexual awakening from the viewpoint of young women. It is a rather bleak snapshot--particularly of Kate's home life at the beginning. Her mother and the household always dreaded when Mr. Brady would come home from one of his drunken bouts. They never knew whether he would just sleep it off, would beat them, or...this time...might kill one or all of them. The novel was not well-received by the Catholic establishment, particularly since it didn't exactly reflect well upon the institution and it was so frank. 

From a personal standpoint, I can't say that I'm terribly taken with the story. While I feel sorry for Kate, I don't admire her friendship with Baba. If you want to call it friendship--some folks might, but it's certainly not my idea of friendship. Friends don't put you down and call you names all the time. Friends don't steal your present for the teacher and make them believe it's theirs. Friends don't give a present that you gave them away to someone else--especially when they know how much the object meant to you. Real friends don't encourage you to do things that will get you in serious trouble. Given that Kate is starved for affection, I can see her wanting a friend of any sort--but the moment she met Cynthia at the convent and Cynthia was truly kind to her, I can't understand her continuing to stick with Baba. And don't even get me started on Kate's relationship with "Mr. Gentleman" (there's a misnomer if I ever heard one...). Gentleman, my foot. Married philanderer taking advantage of a young girl. Her dad may be a drunkard and abusive--but at least he did scare off "Mr. Gentleman" there at the end. Not that that totally redeems him. But good for Mr. Brady on that score. ★★★

First line: I wakened quickly and sat up in the bed abruptly. 

Last line: It was almost certain that I wouldn't sleep that night.