Girl is a 2019 novel by Irish author Edna O'Brien. The book's plot is inspired by the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping in Nigeria, and is narrated by a fictional victim, Maryam.[1]
.jpg) First edition | |
| Author | Edna O'Brien |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Faber & Faber |
Publication date | September 5, 2019 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 240 |
| ISBN | 9-780-57134116-0 |
History and composition
editO'Brien first conceived of the novel after reading about a girl kidnapped by Boko Haram in a magazine at a doctor's office.[2] She travelled to Nigeria twice to do research, which included interviewing "escaped girls, their mothers and sisters, to trauma specialists, doctors and Unicef". She later said that she had tried to create a "kind of mythic story from all this pain and horror".[3]
O'Brien does not type her books, and as with others wrote Girl on loose paper, periodically dictating pages to a typist.[4]
Reception
editWriting for The Guardian, Alex Clark praised the novel, saying: "Everything that O'Brien does memorably throughout her novels, she does here."[5]
O'Brien said in a 2020 interview that she had been disappointed by the novel's poor reception in the US, although it received an award in France and was well-received in Germany.[3]
According to literary review aggregator Book Marks, the novel received mostly positive reviews.[6]
References
edit- ^ Rafferty, Terrence (September 2019). "Edna O'Brien's Lonely Girls". The Atlantic. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- ^ Kelly, Mary Louise (11 October 2019). "Edna O'Brien On 6 Decades Of Writing 'Very Difficult Stories' About Women". NPR. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
- ^ a b O'Brien, Edna (13 December 2020). "Edna O'Brien on turning 90: 'I can't pretend that I haven't made mistakes'". the Guardian (Interview). Interviewed by Hughes, Sarah. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ Parker, Ian (7 October 2019). "Edna O'Brien Is Still Writing About Women on the Run". The New Yorker. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
- ^ Clark, Alex (6 September 2019). "Girl by Edna O'Brien review – a masterclass of storytelling". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- ^ "Girl". Book Marks. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
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