It has been reported that renowned Irish novelist Edna O’Brien will be made an honorary Dame of the British Empire for her contributions to the field of literature. Because O’Brien is a native of County Clare, the title will be unofficial. O’Brien jump-started a career of over five decades with her acclaimed debut novel, 1962’s The Country Girls, establishing a worldwide … [Read more...] about Book Notes:
Novelist Edna O’Brien to Become a Dame of the British Empire
Edna O'Brien
Book Notes:
Mother, Life, Landscape, and the Connection
By Patricia Harty
IA Newsletter, August 3, 2024
IA Newsletter, August 3, 2024
Edna O'Brien returns to the world of The Country Girls in her book The Light of Evening, with the mother-daughter relationship as the main theme. “A writer’s life is like an athlete’s life. You train every day of your life and even then it may not be as good as one had hoped,” says Edna O’Brien, who has written over 20 books. Her latest, The Light of Evening, tells the … [Read more...] about Mother, Life, Landscape, and the Connection
Edna O’Brien at the Lotos Club
On March 29, against the elegant backdrop of books and crystal, sat the elegant Edna O’Brien. Irish America’s editor and co-founder, Patricia Harty, co-hosts Ellen McCourt, Joe & Mary Lou Quinlan and PEN, the international writers’ association, joined together to celebrate O’Brien, one of our greatest living writers, and The Little Red Chairs, her new book. Guests convened … [Read more...] about Edna O’Brien at the Lotos Club
The Little Red Chairs:
A Novel by Edna O’Brien
A Novel by Edna O’Brien
Edna O’Brien’s acclaimed new novel, her first in a decade, is reviewed.
Celts have always believed in an invisible spirit world running parallel to our visible world, a mystical universe that has given Irish storytellers a rich folklore of the supernatural. From this tradition comes the oft-told story (undoubtedly a cautionary tale for impressionable girls) of a handsome … [Read more...] about
A Novel by Edna O’Brien
Country Girl
In this excerpt from her memoir, Edna O’Brien returns to Ireland to build a house in which she hopes to avail of the “peace that passeth understanding,” only to find that even the best laid plans can go awry. Donegal It was to Donegal, in the most northwestern tip of Ireland, that in the 1990s I headed, in order to build a house. The very place names so rough and musical, the … [Read more...] about Country Girl