Edna’s O’Brien’s highly anticipated new novel is October’s Book of the Month

IrishCentral’s Book Club pick for October is “Girl” by Edna O’Brien.

Welcome to October’s pick for the IrishCentral Monthly Book Club! Each month we will pick a new Irish book or a great book by an Irish author and celebrate the amazing ability of the Irish to tell a good story.

Throughout October, we'll be reading the new Edna O’Brien novel "Girl." O’Brien’s hotly anticipated new novel envisages the lives of the Boko Haram girls in a masterpiece of violence and tenderness.

With a new book announcement on the first day of each month, stay with us throughout the month as we talk to the authors and give you a chance to discuss some great Irish works.

The best way to stay in touch with us and other book club members is to join our dedicated Facebook group here, where you can leave your comments and questions or give us even more great Irish recommendations.

If you have any further comments, questions for the author or recommendations for a future IrishCentral Book of the Month, you can email us at [email protected].  

You can purchase “Girl” here.

Read more: Celebrating the writer who first described what it really meant to be an Irish woman

IrishCentral’s October Book of the Month: “Girl”

2

Author/Editor: Edna O’Brien

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: “I was a girl once, but not anymore.”

So begins “Girl,” Edna O’Brien’s harrowing portrayal of the young women abducted by Boko Haram. Set in the deep countryside of northeast Nigeria, this is a brutal story of incarceration, horror, and hunger; a hair-raising escape into the manifold terrors of the forest; and a descent into the labyrinthine bureaucracy and hostility awaiting a victim who returns home with a child blighted by enemy blood. From one of the century's greatest living authors, “Girl” is an unforgettable story of one victim’s astonishing survival and her unflinching faith in the redemption of the human heart.

About the author: Edna O'Brien, the author of "The Country Girls" Trilogy, "The Light of Evening," and "Byron in Love," is the recipient of the James Joyce Ulysses Medal, and an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in London.

You can purchase “Girl” here.

Be sure to join the IrishCentral Book Club group here or to send us an email with questions at [email protected].

Read more: Irish author Edna O’Brien: I’ve been #MeToo-ing for 50 years