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In more than twenty books, Edna O'Brien has charted the emotional and psychic landscape of her native Ireland. Often criticised in her own country for her outspoken stance, she has forged a universal audience; the San Francisco Chronicle described her as 'a worthy heir to the great Irish forebears in Irish literature', while Le Figaro noted that 'the breathlessness of her language is comparable to Faulkner'. Awards and prizes include the Irish PEN Lifetime Achievement Award, Writers' Guild of Great Britain, Premier Cavour (Italian), American National Arts Gold Medal and Ulysses Medal 2006.
Genres: Literary Fiction
Series
Country Girls Trilogy
1. The Country Girls (1960)
2. The Lonely Girl (1962)
aka The Girl with Green Eyes
3. Girls in Their Married Bliss (1963)
The Country Girls Trilogy (omnibus) (1986)
1. The Country Girls (1960)
2. The Lonely Girl (1962)
aka The Girl with Green Eyes
3. Girls in Their Married Bliss (1963)
The Country Girls Trilogy (omnibus) (1986)
Novels
August Is a Wicked Month (1965)
Casualties of Peace (1966)
A Pagan Place (1970)
Zee and Co. (1971)
Night (1972)
Johnny I Hardly Knew You (1977)
aka I Hardly Knew You
The Dazzle (1981)
The Rescue (1983)
The High Road (1988)
Far from the Land (1989)
On the Bone (1989)
Time and Tide (1992)
House of Splendid Isolation (1994)
Down by the River (1996)
Wild Decembers (1999)
In the Forest (2002)
The Light of Evening (2006)
The Little Red Chairs (2015)
Girl (2019)
Casualties of Peace (1966)
A Pagan Place (1970)
Zee and Co. (1971)
Night (1972)
Johnny I Hardly Knew You (1977)
aka I Hardly Knew You
The Dazzle (1981)
The Rescue (1983)
The High Road (1988)
Far from the Land (1989)
On the Bone (1989)
Time and Tide (1992)
House of Splendid Isolation (1994)
Down by the River (1996)
Wild Decembers (1999)
In the Forest (2002)
The Light of Evening (2006)
The Little Red Chairs (2015)
Girl (2019)
Collections
The Love Object (1968)
A Scandalous Woman (1972)
A Rose in the Heart (1978)
aka Mrs. Reinhardt and Other Stories
Collector's Choice (1978)
Returning (1982)
A Fanatic Heart (1984)
Lantern Slides (1990)
An Edna O'Brien Reader (1994)
Mrs. Reinhardt (1996)
Irish Revel (1998)
Triptych and Iphigenia (2005)
Poolside (2007) (with Alice Adams, Amy Bloom, John Cheever, Ernest Hemingway, A M Homes, Andrea Lee, Joyce Carol Oates, Julie Orringer, James Purdy, Graham Swift, John Updike, David Foster Wallace and Fay Weldon)
Saints and Sinners (2011)
A Scandalous Woman (1972)
A Rose in the Heart (1978)
aka Mrs. Reinhardt and Other Stories
Collector's Choice (1978)
Returning (1982)
A Fanatic Heart (1984)
Lantern Slides (1990)
An Edna O'Brien Reader (1994)
Mrs. Reinhardt (1996)
Irish Revel (1998)
Triptych and Iphigenia (2005)
Poolside (2007) (with Alice Adams, Amy Bloom, John Cheever, Ernest Hemingway, A M Homes, Andrea Lee, Joyce Carol Oates, Julie Orringer, James Purdy, Graham Swift, John Updike, David Foster Wallace and Fay Weldon)
Saints and Sinners (2011)
Plays
Picture Books
Novellas
Anthologies edited
Non fiction
Mother Ireland (1976)
James and Nora (1981)
Vanishing Ireland (1990) (with Richard Fitzgerald)
James Joyce (1999)
Byron In Love (2009)
Country Girl (2012) (with Edna O Brien)
James and Nora (1981)
Vanishing Ireland (1990) (with Richard Fitzgerald)
James Joyce (1999)
Byron In Love (2009)
Country Girl (2012) (with Edna O Brien)
Anthologies containing stories by Edna O'Brien
Short stories
| Number 10 (1984) |
Edna O'Brien recommends
The Last of Summer (1943)
Kate O'Brien
"This novel perfectly captures the mood and landscape of a corner of Ireland."
The Pumpkin Eater (1962)
Penelope Mortimer
"Almost every woman I can think of will want to read this book."
The Nature of Water and Air (2001)
Regina McBride
"What distinguishes The Nature of Water and Air is the precision of the language and the haunting power of the narrative."
Dancing with Minnie the Twig (2002)
Mogue Doyle
"A terrific first novel: fresh, sparky, yet deeply felt."
Grace (2017)
Paul Lynch
"A beautifully written novel, with a haunting story and deep echoes of the Ancients."
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