It was written by O’Brien in 1960, when he was 30. The author opened with this book his long literary trajectory – he wrote about 30 books – the first of many was the one that Gema López Las Heras has brought to the Basque Country for the first time. All right.
The protagonists are two very different girls from each other. Caithleen is a peasant who imposes the domestic environment on an alcoholic and violent father. This is probably why he expresses from the beginning his desire to be free –25.orria: "I went out to gather lilies. I stood on the sidelines looking at the fields and, as always, felt a breath of freedom and pleasure..."–. Baba, the daughter of a veterinarian, often speaks with contempt to his friend, is proud of him. However, they are friends and the book tells us about their journey together. They are introduced into a convent as internal and need to invent tricks to get out of it.
Spaces are also of vital importance in the book. The initial population is small. A very concrete collective morality is known and established. The cotilleos, the Esamese and the prejudices have a lot of weight in the people and in the personality of the characters. The rural environment is a suffocating space for these two women. The convent is a reflection of the religious rigidity of Irish society and once again the space becomes a sign of the role of patriarchy for women. But the city, in Dublin, is a symbol of freedom. Space for new opportunities. I have read this story of women choosing to go to the city, whose awareness and clarity has hit me since the beginning.
Rural girls were written and published as novels at that time, but today we know that the story contains fragments of the author's life. The trilogy consists of two other books: The lonely girl and Girls in their married bliss. Criticism of the time did not like the proposal at all, because it denounces the power of the Catholic church in Ireland and the enormous control over women. The village priest burned several specimens in the plaza and censored O’Brien’s novel. He created a scandal… And we liked it.
Under the asphalt, the flower
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Illustrations: Rocío Araya translation
of: Itziar Ulcerati
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