The Countrywoman

by Paul Smith

Out of duty, Mrs. Blaine moves from her home in Wicklow to a slum in Dublin with her alcoholic husband and struggles to raise her children there

Genres: Irish Literature

341 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 1987

About the author

Paul Smith was an Irish writer and playwright.

Smith was born near Charlemont Street in Dublin, the son of a wheelwright. He became involved with the Gate Theatre at 16 years of age. In Ireland he worked as a costume maker and designer in the Abbey and Gate Theatres in Dublin. He went to London in the 50s and then on to Sweden, where he started writing. He then moved to America and soon after to Australia, where he settled in Melbourne for some years. While there he wrote The Countrywoman (1962), The Stubborn Season (1962), and 'Stravanga (1963). He returned to Dublin in 1972 where he remained until he died.

He was awarded the American Irish Foundation Literary Award in 1978, and was a member of Aosdána.

Works:
Esther's Altar (NY: Abelard-Schuman 1959), later reprinted as Come Trailing Blood (London: Quartet Books 1977)
The Stubborn Season (London: Heinemann 1961)
The Countrywoman (London: Heinemann 1962)
'Stravanga (London: Heinemann 1963)
Summer Sang in Me

Reviews

[Robert Belknap · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands down one of the best books I have ever read. Poignant, harrowing, lyrical, this troubling read is an overlooked masterpiece. I am so happy to have stumbled upon it by hazard.

Never has a book so exceeded my expectations. I hope more readers will discover it.

[Eamonn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an angry book about life in the slums of Dublin over a 10-12 year period starting sometime after the end of the first world war and the signing of the treaty. It's centred around one woman, the country woman of the title, an innocent from rural Ireland brought to the slums of the city by her brutal, alcoholic husband who returns from the war and bludgeons his way into and out of her life as the whim takes him, with drastic consequences. It's grim and unrelenting and despite moments of joy centred round her gentle nature and her love for her children, it's general trend is ever downward. There is poverty, deprivation, superstition, ignorance, bullying clergy, pettiness by all officials in any kind of position of authority, violence and brutality, sexuality and backstreet abortion; there's a subplot expressing republican and free state sentiments but it's not a political novel, nor is it a historical novel seeking to present a balanced view of the state of Ireland at the time (most of the protagonists have little understanding of the greater events surrounding their lives). It's social realism with a touch of melodrama. Banned in Ireland at time of publication in 1962, probably for it's anti-clergy stance and it's depiction of violence, rape and incest.

[Anastasia Gutnikova · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried my eyes out. A very well written novel that I couldn't put down.