Edna O’Brien, Writer Who Gave Voice to Women’s Passions, Dies at 93

Her novels and short stories often explored the lives of willful women who loved men who were crass, unfaithful or already married.

By Anthony DePalma

Edna O’Brien, the prolific Irish author whose evocative and explicit stories of loves lost earned her a literary reputation that matched the darkly complex lives of her tragic heroines, died on Saturday. She was 93.

Her death was announced on social media by her publisher, Faber, which said only that she had died “after a long illness.” She had spoken in recent years about being treated for cancer.

Ms. O’Brien wrote dozens of novels and short-story collections over almost 60 years, starting in 1960 with “The Country Girls,” a book that dealt with the emotional conflicts of two Irish girls who rebel against their Roman Catholic upbringing.

Her books often depicted willful but insecure women who loved men who were crass, unfaithful or already married. Much of her early work carried aspects of autobiography, which stirred whisperings about her morals and led to personal attacks against her back home in Ireland. Read the full piece at The New York TImes.