What can I say? I’m obsessed! This book spoke to me in ways no other book has. Rooney’s ability to capture her character’s inner-most thoughts and feelings in such an organic way is mind-blowing. I now aspire to be everything that Rooney is as a writer. Every sentence is worth its weight in gold, driving the plot forward but building layer after layer to her characters. There is so much to learn from her. Okay, enough praise. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty.
Normal People is about two friends/lovers Connell and Marianne from a small town in Ireland. Connell appears to be the quintessential cool guy, Marianne the shy, nerdy type with no friends. They get together and discover they have more in common than meets the eye. But Connell blows it by caring too much about what all teenagers care about – appearances, and is left alone, while Marianne is left heartbroken. Your typical coming of age rom-com. But it’s not! Fast forward a few months and both kids are in college in Dublin where they rekindle their romance. Just as things are going so well, something happens and the two are left alone again. This continues to happen as the book progresses over the next few years, they get-together/they break-up, they’re friends/they’re not. But it’s the details of each character’s actions, their real-life insecurities and anxieties that make this story so fascinating. The entire time you’re rooting for them, hoping they figure their shit out, pining for the happily-ever-after, but understand exactly why it’s not happening. Rooney has captured the nuisances of relationships in such an honest and easy to relate to way that you really must read this book!
Marisa Jones Author 