The Country Girls

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

‘Look Caithleen, will you give up the nonsense? We’re eighteen and we’re bored to death.’ Baba lit a cigarette and puffed vigorously. She went on ‘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.