An Irish writer famous for her rich and sensuous prose, Edna O’Brien has been called “the most gifted woman now writing fiction in English” by fellow author Philip Roth. The author of novels, short stories, plays, biographies, and children’s books, O’Brien is a prolific, often controversial writer. Due to frank female voices and daring sexual scenes, her first book, The Country Girls, and six of her subsequent works, were banned in Ireland. Her most recent novels, Wild Decembers and In the Forest, were selected as New York Times Notable Books, and in 2002, she was awarded the National Medal for Fiction. The Light of Evening centers on the yearning for reconciliation between an estranged mother and daughter.