At 90, Edna O'Brien is an undisputed icon of Irish literature. But this wasn't always the case. On publication of her first novel, The Country Girls, Edna - living in London by then - was vilified by Irish patriarchy, Church and State. Back then, in 1960, Irish people read her in secret, passing the dog-eared book from one feverish hand to the next, beneath school desks. It has been our pleasure to re-read this little gem of a novel, a little over sixty years after it was published. Like all brilliant classics, The Country Girls not only stands the test of time, but gets better and better with each re-read. If you're expecting sex, drugs and rock and roll, you won't find it here. What you will find is a coming-of-age story of two friends from the wilds of Co. Clare, as they gather their courage and their wits about them and take their first tentative steps out into the world.

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