THE NEW YORK TIMES, Stacy Schiff, Friday, May 10, 2013

« Eternal Flame »

« Are you or are you not a good girl? Edna O’Brien’s mother wants to know. […]
Its author remains beguiling and brave, as lucid as ever about the rapturous lows and the punishing highs. Her eye is pitiless and her prose sumptuous. Long before that quayside discovery, her religion has been literature; to it she has remained devout, with a fervor that is contagious. Dear Mrs. O’Brien, I can answer that question about your daughter for you. She is no saint. She is an icon. »