S6 E5 Dirty Foreigners: O’Brien ‘The Lonely Girl’ (1962)

This novel is the further adventures of Caithleen and her sidekick Baba in the big city, as they search for fun, love and a free meal. A sequel to ‘The Country Girls’ (1960) it was automatically banned by a board who hated its author.

The cover art of O’Brien’s novels often featured her, or women who looked very like her

S6 E3 Wanton: Powys ‘Mr Weston’s Good Wine’ (1927)

I haven’t read many novels like this – it’s a Christian allegory stuffed with Gothic sex. TF Powys was banned a numbers of times by the censors, who objected to his unique combination of sacred and profane.

Designing cover art was a problem for earlier publishers but contemporary imprints are very attractive

S6 E1 Dirty Irish Colleens: O’Brien ‘The Country Girls’ (1960)

A novel surrounded by myths and outrage, I waited a long time to read this particular banned book. Part one of an infamous trilogy, its author soon became the focus of official Ireland’s outrage machine. I will explore books 2 and 3 later on in the season but I was joined for book 1 by guest Dr Maureen O’Connor.

There’s an episode in the cover art for this novel alone.