Edna O'Brien is one of the great Irish writers of our time. She came of age in the 50s and early 60s and much of her fiction writing reflects the Ireland of these decades. She is a brilliant writer and this memoir meanders along, much like one's thoughts, looking back on a life which reflects the contradictions of the era.
O'Brien was born in 1930 in Drewsboro, County Clare, a small town which she tells us had three grocers and 27 pubs. Her father was an alcoholic, abusive at times, and early on she rebelled against her provincial Catholic upbringing with its accompanying guilt and shame. Her great goal was to live and work in Dublin. After running wild in her girlhood, she arrived in Dublin and obtained a job as a pharmacist's assistant. It wasn't long before she was married at age 23 to Ernest Gebler, a divorced play write, much older than she. The marriage was miserable, yet produced two sons who she loved dearly.
Perhaps, living in an unhappy and abusive marriage herself, writing allowed her an outlet for her strong creative ability. She soon began selling her work and in 1960 wrote her most well-known novel, Country Girls, which was banned in Ireland, only adding to its notoriety. She became far more successful and famous than her jealous husband who ruled the household with an iron hand, insisting on controlling every penny Edna earned. This stressful situation lasted for 10 years, when she finally decided she had had enough and ran off in London, a courageous move in a time when divorce was frowned on, and difficult to obtain.
The second half of the book invites us to a gossip about her life when she became famous for her stories and masterly writing style. Many celebrities turn up here. She had a weakness for married men and carried on with the likes of Robert Mitchum, Marlon Brando, Sean Connery (who convinced her to try LSD with disastrous results), Norman Mailer, Philip Roth and Samuel Beckett, a fellow Irishman. She charmed Paul McCartneyand Jackie Onassis became a friend and confidant.
Like most of her ex-pat countrymen, she longed to return home and in later years, bought a home in rural Donegal. She stayed there for ten years through various hardships and a few crises. Much later, this brilliant restless woman contemplated ending it all on a dreary trip to Singapore. Happily that depression was brief, and she moved on to other adventures and other writing. At 78, O'Brien has much more to contribute to the world of letters. I am so glad I read this autobiography, which I heartily recommend. You might want to read it along with one of her novels. Country Girls is a good beginning point.
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