Girls in Their Married Bliss is the third and final novel in Edna O'Brien's The Country Girls Trilogy following The Country Girls and The Lonely Girl.[1] The novel was first published in Britain in 1964.[1] The novel was less well received, because of its darker themes and writing, and wasn't published in the United States until 1967.[2]
Reception edit
Generally, the novel was not as well received in either the United Kingdom or the United States.[2] The New York Times reviewer Mellicent Bell described the novel as a "less rollicking [...] third stage of [Baba and Kate's] adventures" which describes a grimmer fate for the two characters than some readers might like.[1] Bell highlights how the novel continues patterns and themes from the earlier novels, including sexual exploration and how religiosity affects the two women.[1]
Kirkus Reviews was similarly mixed about its conclusions, writing "A mixed pleasure, this is at times a lovely, larky book and in others, there are sad spot touches closing with the rueful envoi."[3]
References edit
- ^ a b c d Bell, Millicent (18 February 1968). "Baba and Kate". New York Times Review of Books.
- ^ a b Kathryn Laing; Sinéad Mooney; Maureen O'Connor (2006). Edna O'Brien: New Critical Perspectives. Peter Lang. pp. 19–22. ISBN 978-1-904505-20-4.
- ^ "GIRLS IN THEIR MARRIED BLISS by Edna O'Brien | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
Further reading edit
- Chase, Elizabeth A. (1 January 2010). "Rewriting Genre in The Country Girls Trilogy". New Hibernia Review. 14 (3): 91–105. doi:10.1353/nhr.2010.0004. ISSN 1534-5815.
- Weston, Elizabeth (1 January 2010). "Constitutive Trauma in Edna O'Brien's The Country Girls Trilogy: The Romance of Reenactment". Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature. 29 (1): 83–105. ISSN 1936-1645.