Girls in Their Married Bliss is the third and final novel in Edna O'Brien's The Country Girls Trilogy following The Country Girls and The Lonely Girl.^[1] The novel was first published in Britain in 1964.^[1] The novel was less well received, because of its darker themes and writing, and was not published in the United States until 1967.^[2]

Generally, the novel was not as well received in either the United Kingdom or the United States.^[2] The New York Times reviewer Mellicent Bell described the novel as a "less rollicking [...] third stage of [Baba and Kate's] adventures" which describes a grimmer fate for the two characters than some readers might like.^[1] Bell highlights how the novel continues patterns and themes from the earlier novels, including sexual exploration and how religiosity affects the two women.^[1]

Kirkus Reviews was similarly mixed about its conclusions, writing "A mixed pleasure, this is at times a lovely, larky book and in others, there are sad spot touches closing with the rueful envoi."^[3]

• Chase, Elizabeth A. (1 January 2010). "Rewriting Genre in The Country Girls Trilogy". New Hibernia Review. 14 (3): 91–105. doi:10.1353/nhr.2010.0004. ISSN 1534-5815.
• Weston, Elizabeth (1 January 2010). "Constitutive Trauma in Edna O'Brien's The Country Girls Trilogy: The Romance of Reenactment". Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature. 29 (1): 83–105. ISSN 1936-1645.