Fall in Love with Rooney’s Prose
By Phoenix Carlisle | Cover courtesy of the book publisher
Normal People by Irish author Sally Rooney (Hogarth, 2019) is a coming-of-age romance that tells the memorable journey of Connell and Marianne. 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 picks up his mother 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 sidelines, 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. The novel follows the couple as they fall in and out of love throughout their teens and mid-20s. We get to read their souls and hearts as they find each other over and over again.
I’ve read my share of love stories, yet none of them have stayed with me the way Normal People has. The way Connell and Marianne always found each other when they needed one another was beautiful. It was always perfectly convenient; someone got dumped or they went home for holidays at the same time. The couple always coming back to love was a highlight, but they could cut each other off as fast as they found each other. Once they were done with one another they were done…until next time.
Besides an incredible plot, the likable main characters made me want to root for them. It seems that, with novels these days, it’s hard to find one likable main character, let alone two. The characters combined with the plot were just “chef’s kiss” perfect. Rooney’s spare prose writing style and the ending of the book made it worth the read.
Although I adore this book, there are a few flaws within its pages. I enjoyed it because Ireland is not a common setting in books I’ve read. But as I was reading, I couldn’t remember the story was set in Ireland. I’d be happily picturing a scene somewhere closer to home and then the story would mention something Irish causing me to re-imagine everything. Not only was the country unclear, so were the settings.
Sometimes I would go to the next chapter completely lost despite the beautiful imagery in Rooney’s prose.
Normal People is a heart-wrenching love story that will remain with you long after you read it. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who wants to root for hope and needs to feel something deeply. You will fall in love with our lovers as they fall in love with each other. Just make sure you know what Ireland looks like. Happy reading!
Overall rating: 5/5 stars
