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Tender and gripping portrait of Edna O’Brien

The Irish author is a perfect subject for a documentary film as she never said or did anything uninteresting in her life

Deborah Ross
Edna O’Brien in 1971 at her Chelsea home where she hosted legendary parties  
EXPLORE THE ISSUE 19 April 2025
issue 19 April 2025

You could say it’s impossible to make a poor documentary about the writer Edna O’Brien as she’s never said or done anything uninteresting in her life. Point a camera and we’re away. But Sinead O’Shea’s Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story is especially rewarding as it is not only beautifully constructed but also includes diary entries that have never been made public before, plus an interview conducted with O’Brien in July last year just before her death.

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