The Country Girls Trilogy Series by Edna O'Brien

Meet Kate and Baba, two young Irish country girls who have spent their childhood together. As they leave the safety of their convent school in search of life and love in the big city, they struggle to maintain their somewhat tumultuous relationship. Kate, dreamy and romantic, yearns for true love, while Baba just wants to experience the life of a single girl... moreMeet Kate and Baba, two young Irish country girls who have spent their childhood together. As they leave the safety of their convent school in search of life and love in the big city, they struggle to maintain their somewhat tumultuous relationship. Kate, dreamy and romantic, yearns for true love, while Baba just wants to experience the life of a single girl. Although they set out to conquer the world together, as their lives take unexpected turns, Kate and Baba must ultimately learn to find their own way. "It's a difficult trip, this coming of age . . . O'Brien tells it with love and outrage, compassion and contempt." ( Los Angeles Times Book Review ) "A treasure . . . powerful . . . intelligent . . . ironic." ( The New York Times Book Review ) less

Cait, or Kate as she likes to be called and Baba are living in Dublin, making up for their sheltered upbringing by going out with men and drinking. Kate creates a furore by dating a non-catholic who is separated from his American wife.

The third book of Edna O'Brien's acclaimed Country Girls trilogy Girls in Their Married Bliss continues the tale of Kate and Baba, two ambitious Irish country girls in search of life. Romantic Kate seeks love, while pragmatic Baba will take whatever she can get. Together they set out to conquer Dublin and the world. Under the big city's bright lights, they spin their lives into a whirl of comic and touching misadventures, wild flirtations, and reckless passions. But love changes everything... moreThe third book of Edna O'Brien's acclaimed Country Girls trilogy Girls in Their Married Bliss continues the tale of Kate and Baba, two ambitious Irish country girls in search of life. Romantic Kate seeks love, while pragmatic Baba will take whatever she can get. Together they set out to conquer Dublin and the world. Under the big city's bright lights, they spin their lives into a whirl of comic and touching misadventures, wild flirtations, and reckless passions. But love changes everything. And as their lives take unexpected and separate turns, Baba and Kate must ultimately learn to go it alone. less

A treasure of world literature back in print, featuring a new introduction by Eimear McBrideThe country girls are Caithleen "Kate" Brady and Bridget "Baba" Brennan, and their story begins in the repressive atmosphere of a small village in the west of Ireland in the years following World War II. Kate is a romantic, looking for love; Baba is a survivor... moreA treasure of world literature back in print, featuring a new introduction by Eimear McBrideThe country girls are Caithleen "Kate" Brady and Bridget "Baba" Brennan, and their story begins in the repressive atmosphere of a small village in the west of Ireland in the years following World War II. Kate is a romantic, looking for love; Baba is a survivor. Setting out to conquer the bright lights of Dublin, they are rewarded with comical miscommunications, furtive liaisons, bad faith, bad luck, bad sex, and compromise; marrying for the wrong reasons, betraying for the wrong reasons, fighting in their separate ways against the overwhelming wave of expectations forced upon "girls" of every era.The Country Girls Trilogy and Epilogue charts unflinchingly the pattern of women's lives, from the high spirits of youth to the chill of middle age, from hope to despair, in remarkable prose swinging from blunt and brutal to whimsical and lyrical. It is a saga both painful and hilarious, and remains one of the major accomplishments of Edna O'Brien's extraordinary career.This omnibus edition includes the novels The Country Girls, The Lonely Girl, and Girls in Their Married Bliss. less