Blue Road - The Edna O'Brien Story

In 1960, a young Irish woman named Edna O’Brien wrote a sexually frank debut novel, The Country Girls. She became a literary sensation, writing for The New Yorker, delivering provocative interviews, and authoring screenplays. Her success enraged her writer husband and made her a pariah in her native Ireland, where her books were regularly banned and burned. She would make her home in London, where she conducted numerous love affairs (Robert Mitchum!), hosted star-studded parties, and made and lost a fortune.

In July 2024, Edna passed away, and this film provides a final testimony from her, aged 93, as she reflects upon her extraordinary life for filmmaker Sinéad O’Shea’s camera. Granting the director access to her personal journals, read aloud in the film by the Oscar-winning 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.

Warm, empathetic… a fitting tribute.

Fionnuala Halligan, Screen International

A moving, insightful tribute to O’Brien as a formidable writer and a woman of remarkable complexity.

Jonathan Romney, Financial Times

A thoroughly enjoyable and engaging study.

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian