Country Girl: A Memoir, By Edna O'Brien

How many literary writers can boast of spending a (chaste) night with Marlon Brando? Or having Richard Burton ring their doorbell, just on the off-chance?

Edna O'Brien's life story is starry, but the glitz is levened by inner torments (the loss of virginity is accompanied by not one but two Catholic confessions), heartbreak (divorce and battle for custody of her sons) and taboo-busting (her incendiary debut, The Country Girls).

This memoir shimmers with heart, soul and literary brilliance.