Normal People is a story of mutual fascination, friendship, and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find they can't.
Synopsis
At school Connell and Marianne pretend not to know each other. He’s popular and well-adjusted, star of the school soccer team while she is lonely, proud, and intensely private. But when Connell comes to pick his mother up from her housekeeping job at Marianne’s house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers - one they are determined to conceal.
A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the side-lines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years in college, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. Then, as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.
My Rating ****
Review
Over the last three years, Irish writer Sally Rooney has accumulated a wide range of praise and admiration for her first two novels, Conversations with Friends (2017) and Normal People (2018). Much like its predecessor, Normal People has won a plethora of awards such as Waterstones Book Of The Year, it was also longlisted for The Man Booker Prize award. In 2019 it was adapted into a BBC Drama series, of the same name, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal.
I’m not normally one to read books that have been placed on such a high pedestal as I believe that if a book is raised to critical acclaim upon its release, it can often lead to an overwhelming feeling of disappointment if said book doesn’t live up to its expectations. But I needn’t have worried as Rooney’s book is a truly wonderful and refreshing to read.
Unlike the other YA books I've previously read, Rooney’s novel is completely character driven and portrays a tender and realistic love story between Marianne and Connell, who, despite being in the same class at school, go through two very different coming-of-age tales. The story begins with the characters in sixth form in a small town in Ireland, Connell is popular and smart, a desirable star of the football team whilst Marianne is rich and withdrawn, rejected by the other school kids for being strange and different. Connell’s single mum works as a cleaner for Marianne’s family and one day when Connell picks his mother up, their paths cross and an undeniable spark of attraction occurs between the two teenagers. What comes next is an intense and passionate relationship between two unlikely friends that starts during their final year at school and continues throughout their early twenties.
Sally Rooney brings her rich and nuanced prose to a story that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the complex entanglements of family and friendship. Rooney’s style may appear somewhat effortless, but every word is packed full of purpose. When I began reading this book I found Rooney’s writing a challenge because of the lack of speech marks however a few chapters in I got used to it, I think it creates a much more personal relationship with the characters and depicts the intricacies of being a teenager in love. As the years go by, Marianne and Connell’s relationship is tumultuous, going back and forth between romantic to platonic love. Both characters try new relationships, but the pair are always drawn back to each other with a ,magnetic force seemingly beyond their control.
For me, this book is, at its core, a portrait of two people growing up from their late teenage years into their early twenties. When we first meet them, they seem uncomplicated and their relationship is simple. But as the story develops, their characters change as they start to understand themselves better and we start to see the deep complexities within each character. We see Connell develop mental health issues: anxiety and depression as well as Marianne become deeply psychologically affected by her traumatic past. I think Rooney’s work is raw and genuine truthfully depicting the darker side of the human psyche and the struggles facing the younger generations in today’s world.
One of my favourite scenes from both the book and the television series, is watching Connell and Marianne interact with the other character within their friendship groups. I think this was one of the most realistic depictions of school life. it was also a great way to look at teenagers and university life and how the interactions change with age.
I really enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it.
Favourite Quotes
"I don't know why I can't be like normal people ... I don't know why I can't make people love me"
“Most people go through their whole lives, without ever really feeling that close with anyone.”
“I'm not a religious person but I do sometimes think God made you for me.”
Reviews and Further Praise
“I finished the book determined to look at the world differently. I’m not sure what higher compliment you can pay a novel” – The Times
“Love, sex, class, work, miscommunication and melancholy are all described in prose that is somehow at once lapidary and mysterious, glittering but with the feeling of something moving like weather being the sentences” – New Statesman Books of the Year
“The 27-year-old novelist defining a generation … Sally Rooney is the most exciting voices … [Normal People’s] sheer immediacy and rawness gripped me, to the point that I read it in 24 hours, finishing it at 3 a.m.” - Guardian
About the author
Sally Rooney was born in 1991 in Castlebar, County Mayo. She holds degrees in English and American Literature from Trinity College, Dublin, the city where she now lives. She won the 2017 Sunday Times/Peters Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year Award. Sally Rooney’s work has appeared in The Dublin Review, The Stinging Fly and Granta. Rooney's debut novel, Conversations with Friends, was published in 2017. Her second novel, Normal People (2018), was a bestseller, and won several major awards, including the prize for Best Novel at the Costa Book Awards, and was named the Waterstones Book of the Year.
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