A review by laney_reads_22
Girl by Edna O'Brien

dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

I was expecting this story to be emotional, one of triumph and perseverance but the writing was so dull, I felt nothing. Very disappointed, I found myself rushing through the last few chapters to get it over with. 

Following her kidnap, school girl Maryam is taken, along with her female classmates to a war camp where they serve as "bush wives" to the extremists waging war over Nigeria. Horrifically abused and subject to religious conversation therapy, Maryam is married to a soldier and falls pregnant. Shortly after giving birth to her daughter, the camp falls under attack by the military and Maryam escapes with her baby and friend. A large section of the book is then dedicated to their journey, before she returns home to find that her father and brother are dead and her mother is shamed by her. All of this should make for a heart wrenching read but some of the most important moments are almost skipped over! Particularly one scene, where the friend she escapes with dies and under extreme hunger and not having seen any other people for weeks, she decides to leave her baby to drown (although seemingly there was no water anywhere as it consistently mentions their thirst???). Literally in the next sentence, the baby is returned to her by some random nomads. The whole thing was utterly bizarre.
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