Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story

A candid portrait of a literary sensation that’s as enchanting as O’Brien’s wonderful novels.

In 1960, a young Edna O’Brien wrote a sexually frank debut novel, The Country Girls, becoming a literary sensation. But her success enraged her husband and made her a pariah in her native Ireland, where her books were banned and burned. Edna passed away in 2024 and this film provides a final testimony from her, aged 93, as she reflects upon her extraordinary life.

Granting director Sinéad O’Shea access to her personal journals — read aloud in the film by the Oscar nominated Irish actress Jessie Buckley — and with additional perspectives offered from Gabriel Byrne, Walter Mosley and an array of renowned writers, Edna does not shy from any subject.