Normal People: One million copies sold

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It’s so popular that it’s spawned its own archetype of TikTok girls who listen to Taylor Swift and carry Normal People in their tote bags. This causes him to ask her to keep their relationship secret so that people do not find out his mum works for hers. Conversations with Friends was shortlisted for both the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Rathbones Folio Prize, and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize.

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 behind the sentences. To me, Rooney’s novels belong firmly in a contemporary female coming-of-age canon that spans artistic mediums, from films like Lady Bird to shows like Fleabag and musical artists like Lorde. Connell and Marienne are such prominent characters, and I loved the prose - simple, but Rooney has a way of writing that makes simple lines convey deep meanings, in a way that evoked thoughts I'd been feeling but didn't know how to express or think about.ANNE: I'd love to hear a little about your reading life and what this experience with clinical burnout has meant for that area of your life. But the indulgent hand-wringing embodied by Rooney’s solipsistic young scholars is reserved only for privileged, urban white characters—similar to the protagonists of Oyler and Lockwoods’ novels, as well as of Jenny Offill’s Weather. A lot of the action happens in the past, and so throughout the book, Gifty is reflecting on the suffering in her family, and it's led her to reflect on all kinds of themes from her life.

Marianne confronts Connell about her feelings for him and they kiss, but he's uncertain due to social pressures and keeps their acquaintance hidden. During their evening dinner, Jamie's controlling and abusive attitudes are apparent to all and the two reach a breaking point. This was part of a series of major life changes that I made after being diagnosed with clinical burnout. ANNE: A lot of readers struggle when they're reading about a character, and they're like, I just really can't understand why someone would make these decisions.When they both earn places at Trinity College in Dublin, a connection that has grown between them lasts long into the following years.

And the story has all these juicy details from her job as a wedding planner to these clients who have endless, endless funds to spend on this big day that seems to be about everything but love and commitment. It really is the time to be cultivating all those wonderful indoor hobbies of which reading is a big one.Rooney’s characters pursue affairs and break hearts, while attending elite schools, working prestigious internships, publishing bestselling novels, scoring magazine features. It was voted as the 2018 Waterstones' Book of the Year [8] and won "Best Novel" at the 2018 Costa Book Awards.