August is a Wicked Month

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For a while, I thought maybe O'Brien was showing the emptiness of a life based on liquor, sex, and celebrity. There she meets men she finds attractive who aren’t interested in her or misguided men who find her attractive though she’s not vaguely tempted by to them. If you enjoy novels of the variety I mentioned earlier in my review, then this is definitely one you should read. She is currently writing a play, Joyce's Women , for the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, to mark the centenary of the publication of Ulysses .

She is separated from her husband, lonely, and still figuring out what she wants in life - which is fine, normal, and should be talked about, especially at the time it was published in 1965. The character of Ellen is so unformed, her hair color keeps changing, and I don't mean because she dyes it. When he comes to take the boy on holiday, she makes her own to the south of France, spending her days in a haze of decadance and forgetfulness. There are at least two sentences like this that refers to the bed's performance of the man as being wicked. I am impressed with how well Edna O'Brien conveys emotional peaks and valleys, how she can expose the depths of loneliness, sadness and grief.

Thanks Lisa… I have allowed comments on that page now… it was set up in the new block editor and didn’t realise I had to check the “discussions” box to allow comments.

The language has a slow, langurious quality to it, in which everything seems to be happening in the half-realized manner of a dream, interspersed with the frenetic quality of extreme loneliness. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. At any rate, this novel by O'Brien explores the psychology and neurosis of a youngish, attractive mother who's separated from her husband and goes a little crazy on her summer vacation alone. I’ve read a handful of Edna O’Brien’s novels in the past, but August is a Wicked Month is by far my favourite. I received a Penguin Classic, and I am pretty sure it was available to the seller to choose from, so I was a bit irked that I did not get that same cover.She wants every man she meets to be enthralled to her, yet makes little effort to make herself interesting in any way.

But first to address what is possibly the funniest and most patronising review I've ever read on the back of a book.When her ex-husband picks up the boy for a two-week camping trip, Ellen invites a causal acquaintance over for a long day of languid sex. The Summer Before the Dark’ by Doris Lessing: A well-educated woman contemplates her future after 20 years of marriage and motherhood at a time when having a career wasn’t open to all. A novel about thirty-something Londoner Ellen who, while estranged from her husband, has a meaningless vacation affair on the French Riviera. It’s about a young Irish woman with an eight year old son who’s been separated from her husband for a year. A fine first edition, first impression, first printing of Edna O¿Brien¿s fourth book August is a Wicked Month in hardback cloth covers with a near fine dust jacket, published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape in 1965.

An article published on the occasion of her 90th birthday ends like this: “There is still the hope too of one final book: “I do have one in mind but I’m not sure I have the energy or the existence to carry me through,” she says with a hint of regret.

I really didn't find much to enjoy in this novel whose main protagonist Ellen, left home alone while her son goes on holiday with his father, decides to take a holiday in France to rediscover some excitement in her life. This book written after O¿Brien moved to London is a departure from her three previous novels but reflects similar themes. I thought the dialogue was odd but I think it’s normal for books from this time period (I know I’ve seen it before)? Banned in several countries on first publication, Edna O’Brien’s August is a Wicked Month is a shimmering, sensual tale of a woman rediscovering herself – and it feels just as glorious, radical, and escapist as today.