Edna O'Brien and the Art of Fiction

Edna O'Brien is a well-known author who has written many books that have caused controversy in her native Ireland and abroad. This book examines her fiction and archival material to consider how she represents women's experience, family relationships, the natural world, sex, creativity, and death, and how her works anticipated contemporary movements such as #metoo.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 180 pages
Publication date: 15 October 2021
Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Since the publication of her debut novel, The Country Girls, in 1960, Edna OBrien has stirred controversy in her native Ireland and beyond. Indeed, several of her early novels were condemned by church authorities and banned by the Irish government for their frank portrayals of sexual matters and the inner lives of women. Now an internationally acclaimed writer, OBrien must be critically reassessed for a twenty-first-century audience.

Edna OBrien and the Art of Fiction offers an urgent retrospective examination of one of the English-speaking world's best-selling and most prolific contemporary authors. Drawing on OBrien's fiction, as well as archival material, and applying new theoretical approaches, including ecocritical and feminist new materialist readings, this study considers the pioneering and enduring ways OBrien represents women's experience, family relationships, the natural world, sex, creativity, and death, and her works' long anticipation of contemporary movements such as #metoo.

The Country Girls, OBrien's debut novel, was published in 1960. It undermined the nation's ideal of innocent and pious Irish girlhood. The book was controversial in Ireland and abroad, and several of her early novels were condemned by church authorities and banned by the Irish government. The novels were criticized for their frank portrayals of sexual matters and the inner lives of women.

Despite the controversy, OBrien has become an internationally acclaimed writer. Her works have been translated into numerous languages and have won numerous awards. OBrien's writing is known for its insightful portrayal of women's experiences, family relationships, and the natural world.

In recent years, OBrien's works have been critically reassessed for a twenty-first-century audience. Scholars and critics have explored the ways in which OBrien's fiction anticipates contemporary movements such as #metoo. For example, her novel The Country Girls was criticized for its portrayal of women's sexual repression and the limited roles available to women in Irish society. However, scholars have also noted that the novel's frank portrayal of sexual matters was a pioneering effort in Irish literature and contributed to the broader feminist movement.

Another of OBrien's novels, The Bloody Chamber, was praised for its feminist portrayal of women and its exploration of sexual violence. The novel follows a young woman who is seduced by a vampire and then subjected to a series of violent sexual encounters. OBrien's portrayal of the woman's struggle to reclaim her autonomy and her resistance to sexual violence was seen as a groundbreaking contribution to feminist literature.

In conclusion, Edna OBrien has been a controversial figure in Irish literature and beyond. Her debut novel, The Country Girls, undermined the nation's ideal of innocent and pious Irish girlhood, and several of her early novels were condemned by church authorities and banned by the Irish government. However, OBrien has become an internationally acclaimed writer, and her works have been critically reassessed for a twenty-first-century audience. Her fiction anticipates contemporary movements such as #metoo, and her portrayal of women's experiences, family relationships, and the natural world is insightful and enduring.

Weight: 266g
Dimension: 154 x 227 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781684483358