V for Violet Read Online Free

priest that lives in the same village as Edna O’Brien even burned a copy. I wanted to read it to see what all the fuss is about.
    Miss Read gave me a funny look when she saw it in my weekly pile. Her ink stamp hovered over it. ‘Are you sure your parents will be happy for you to read this, Violet?’ she asked.
    ‘They don’t mind what I read, Miss Read,’ I said. ‘And besides, I’m sixteen now.’ I glared at her. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so rude. But it worked anyway, although she brought the stamp down so hard I thought she’d break it. The book’s called
The Country Girls
and it’s about two best friends, Kate and Baba. They’re just like me and Jackie. They share each other’s secrets just like we do. Although me and Jackie never took our knickers off and tickled each other. Perhaps that’s why they banned it in Ireland.
    ‘Here,’ Dad grunts at me. ‘Take these out back before your mother starts hollering.’ He shoves a tray, stacked with the evening’s leftovers, into my hands. It’s heavy. I groan, but more from the thought of the evening ahead than from the weight of the tray. Kate and Baba will have to wait.
    Mum’s bustling about, buttering bread and making sure Norma and Raymond have enough tea. ‘Oh good,’ says Norma when I put the tray down on the table. ‘We’re starving.’
    ‘All right, Violet?’ asks Raymond.
    He’s got a new jumper on. It’s the colour of English mustard and the stitches are loose and baggy around the collar. I reckon Norma’s been knitting again.
    Mum puts the plate of bread and butter in the middle of the table and starts to share out the fish and chips onto the waiting plates. Norma picks up her napkin and spreads it out on her lap. I snort. ‘Didn’t know we were dining at The Ritz,’ I say under my breath.
    Norma looks at me sharply. ‘So, Violet,’ she says. ‘Got yourself a boyfriend yet?’
    ‘Why would I want one of those?’ I say. I pull a face at Raymond. ‘I might end up having to get married and then my life would be over.’
    Norma sniffs and carefully picks up a chip from her plate with her red-painted fingernails. ‘Just wondered,’ she says. ‘Only I thought you and your friend Jackie did everything together.’ She pops the chip in her mouth and slowly licks her fingers.
    ‘What do you mean by that?’ The words are out before I can help it and Norma’s lipsticky lips curl into a smirk, just like I knew they would.
    ‘Only, we saw her the other night, didn’t we, Raymond?’
    ‘Who?’ he says. He shakes a flurry of salt all over his supper. ‘Pass the vinegar, will you, Violet?’
    ‘Jackie,’ says Norma, as I slide the vinegar bottle across the table. ‘We saw Violet’s friend Jackie the other night, didn’t we? Coming out of the dance hall. With some fella all over her, don’t you remember?’
    ‘Oh, yeah,’ says Raymond. He drenches his fish with vinegar. Norma’s eyes light up with triumph. My cheeks burn. She might as well have slapped me in the face.
She’s
like vinegar, I think; she sours everything.
    Mum joins us at the table. ‘Jackie’s got a boyfriend, has she?’ I can almost see her ears waggling. ‘You never said, Violet!’
    ‘I don’t have to tell you everything,’ I mumble. I can’t eat now. I feel odd, as though someone has shoved their hand down my throat and is trying to pull my heart out. It’s like I’ve been told the worst news ever.
    ‘You all right, Violet?’ says Norma. ‘You’ve gone all pale. You want some vinegar on those chips? Hey, and look. Like my new earrings? Raymond bought them for me.’
    I look down at my plate. There’s oil congealing in the folds and bubbles of batter. ‘I’m not hungry,’ I say. I stand and push my chair back. ‘I feel sick. I’ve got to go to the bathroom.’ I hurry to the door.
    ‘Nice to see you, too!’ Norma shouts after me.
    ‘Cow!’ I hiss at the staircase walls. It’s cold in the bathroom and smells of mildew and