Writer Edna O’Brien, whose early novels so outraged her native Ireland they were banned, moved ultimately from outcast to icon as her work was celebrated even in her homeland. She has died aged 93.
Her early novels focused on love and the lot of young women in an unforgiving world and her views on sex were much quoted. “The explorer in woman is as deep and as true as in man”, she once said. “Woman’s longing to stray is more persistent because man’s possibilities are so much wider. … Man is able to mollify his restlessness with other activities, hunting, shooting, fishing. With women it is all poured into the sexual aspect”. She wrote about freethinking, sensual young women who dare to break society’s conventions, to “craven” women who did not dare to make the leap and, later, she wrote about female victims of male violence in war time.
She was born 15 December 1930 10.30pm (from memory) Tuam, Ireland with a drunk, violent father and overly religious mother, and as a baby was deemed too ugly to be seen. She moved from an unhappy childhood into a bad marriage from which she finally escaped to exile in England where she developed into a glamorous international literary star. But Ireland remained her touchstone – “a land of shame, a land of murder and a land of strange sacrificial women.”
She had a 4th house Sagittarius Sun giving her the urge to travel yet stay firmly rooted at the same time. A super-confident Jupiter Pluto in Cancer would help lift her out of the unhappiness of her childhood, as would three planets in inspirational Fire signs – Sun trine an 12th house Mars in Leo trine an Aries North Node (and Uranus) in her 8th house. Her rebellious Uranus was deeply buried yet powerful, squaring onto Jupiter opposition Saturn Mercury in Capricorn helping her to lob a hand grenade into repressive Irish attitudes to sexuality and the status of women. She was a trailblazer for the changes which came later.
Her intensely determined Scorpio Moon in her communicative 3rd house was sparsely aspected with only a sextile to Neptune on her Ascendant. Though it was square her Mars/Pluto midpoint, hinting at the damaging relationship with her mother. Her Chiron in the 9th is described by Melanie Rhinehart as ‘wounded by God’ and often appears where a religious upbringing had a lifelong effect. Neptune on the Ascendant can give a mesmerizing appearance which she certainly had in adult life.
Her seductive and sensual Venus in Scorpio was square her Mars and trine her Jupiter Pluto so she more than made up for her austere childhood in romantic escapades and fun.
Her global influencer 22nd harmonic was strong, as was her writers 21st and leaving-a-legacy 17th. Her victim/healer 12th harmonic hinted at finding an outlet through communication. Her get-it-together 5th harmonic which builds a substantial life was the strongest. It can also indicate – always on-the-go, inventive, freedom-loving, fast-thinking – sometimes sensationalistic, self-indulgent, “the player”.
Thanks Marjorie. Just watched a documentary about her tonight. She had some very important things to say over so many years of writing – and when few were raising all the shadowy issues brewing in Ireland. That fiery energy in her chart plus the Scorpio certainly found an outlet. What you wrote about her mesmerising appearance is so true – I saw her once in a restaurant, and she had astonishing charisma. Something beyond good looks, a kind of magnetism.