Girls in Their Married Bliss by Edna O’Brien was published in 1964 and it’s the third book in her series also comprising The Country Girls, and Girl with Green Eyes (previously The Lonely Girl) which are about two young Irish girls. This one begins with Baba giving a quick resume of her and her friend Kate’s (known as Caithleen before) life, they had been friends since childhood. Surprisingly both young women have married well-off men and are living in London. You would think that they had fallen on their feet but the title of the book is deeply sarcastic as marriage has turned out to be far from bliss for the young women.

I have to say that I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the other two books, it’s not that the writing is bad but neither Kate nor Baba seemed to mature over the years, but then if they had the book would have been very different. I just felt like giving them both a good shake a lot of the time. I found the ending to be quite depressing, but I’m glad that I completed the series. This is a very quick read at just 160 pages.