Product Description

From eccentric Joanna's boarding house, predatory Baba roams Dublin looking for men to give her a good time - and dragging with her a reluctant Cait, worrying about her figure and wanting to talk about books. Then she meets dark, long-faced Eugene Gaillard, a film director, and for a while Cait's romantic dreams seem to be fulfilled. But Eugene Gaillard is a Protestant divorce, and when Cait's drunkard father gets to hear of it, he summons a lynch mob Steering expertly between high romance, outright farce and the blend of them that is reality, Girl with Green Eyes is an original and joyful story of the gateway to adulthood.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #176461 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
Edna O'Brien is the author of 24 books. She was the winner of the 1993 Writers' Guild Prize for Fiction. In 2001 her novel, In the Forest - about a brutal murder on the west coast - caused a furore throughout Ireland and was the subject of a BBC Omnibus film.

Customer Reviews

A truly moving book.
I read this book when I was 19 which was 13 years ago and yet when one of my friends asked me to recommend my top ten books, I immediately thought of this book. Its warm and yet stark, funny and yet sad. It isn't just about growing up in Ireland, its about growing up.

Dull with a plot that goes nowhere
I bought this book believing that it might be an entertaining coming of age story with some humour and interesting plot twists and characters. I was sorely dissapointed. The main character is boring, weepy (constantly!) and immature and doesn't seem to learn anything throughout the entire book. Her friend was vile most of the time; her Dad said horrid things about her at one point, which she miraculously forgot about and by the end of the book I couldn't tell what sort of character the leading man was. Too be honest I couldn't have cared by then. I'm amazed I managed to struggle on to the end as I got fed up with the lack of plot development fairly early on in the book, it was completely unrealistic and would have no bearing in this day and age.

Dated and poorly written
This is the story of Caithleen, a young Irish girl who defies the conventions of her time to have a sexual relationship with an older, married man. Yet the word 'defies' is too strong - Caithleen seems to drift along, constantly influenced by others and afraid of everyone she meets. We hear nothing but fear and worry from her, and no-one in the book inspires any affection in the reader. The writing style is very bland, of the 'and then...and then....' school with little introspection or insight. Published in 1962, this book has not dated at all well, and a modern readership will find it dreary and unenlightening.