The Country Girls, by Edna O'Brien

This book struck me as both so timely, and so dated; as a result, I simply couldn't get enough of this novel, at times reading in a sense of horrified anticipation. The main character, Caithleen, seems intensely naive in her story telling, despite (or perhaps because of) the adult world she is so desperate to enter into. This old-world innocence is juxtaposed with an all too current event of the over-sexualisation of young girls.

Caithleen lives in a world of uncertainty: her father is an abusive drunk, her mother dies suddenly, and she is left to divide her time between the cold convent in which she receives her education, and the dishonest and over-privileged home of her bullying 'best friend', Baba. By comparison, the elegant figure of 'Mr Gentleman' seems an attractive shelter from the storm- despite the fact that he is married and far, far older than her. He starts to cultivate a relationship with Caithleen, still very innocent at first, but clearly masking a distasteful interest on his behalf.

Caithleen is breathtakingly juvenile about the relationship, convinced the pair are in love. And perhaps love does enter the equation; at the very least, Mr Gentleman develops an obsession with Caithleen's youth and sweetness, but it does become unsettlingly apparent that she is not his first youthful prey, and that this relationship must have a termination date, which can only end painfully for Cait.

This storyline sounds abhorrent, but somehow the innocent wishfulness of Cait, as she tells her story (of moving to Dublin and making her own life, of unsatisfactory attempts to find love in the city, of refusals of other older men, of finally standing up to Baba in small ways) paints it all in a rose tinted light. Caithleen is a charming character, and the reader can't help but hope for her happiness. The ending, suprisingly, wraps up very little, but hints at a new path, which could finally lead Caithleen to that joyous life we, as reader, feel she deserves.