Members were somewhat polarised in their opinions of this book - which always makes for an interesting discussion on Club night.
The story focuses on two young people, Marianne and Connell. Their on-again-off-again relationship begins at high school and resumes at university but is complicated along the way by relationships with other people, and with social expectations and peer pressures.
The book is set in Ireland in the years following the 2008 Irish economic downturn but the details of the setting are only lightly sketched in and the story really only focuses on the pivotal moments in the lives of the two main characters.
Marianne is from a wealthy family, intelligent, but unpopular at high school, while Connell, also intelligent, is from a working-class background but popular at high school due to his good looks and athleticism.
The author hints at dark family secrets - we gradually learn that Marianne is emotionally and physically bullied at home. Connell is much loved but his single mother works for Marianne’s family as a cleaner and he does not know who his father is.
Marianne and Connell begin a secret sexual relationship which ends when Connell takes another more socially acceptable girl to the school ball.
The two of them nevertheless successfully obtain scholarships and move away from their small town in County Sligo to study at Trinity College, Dublin. Time has moved on and the tables are turned at university where Marianne has grown into an attractive, intellectual and popular young woman with money to splash around while Connell finds trouble fitting in and becomes lonely and depressed.
Through the characters, the author explores the stress of class barriers born of economic differences, and young people’s overwhelming need for social status and to be accepted by their peers.
Marianne and Connell hit it off and their relationship begins again. But the couple’s awkwardness and inability to communicate adequately with each other (apart from in the bedroom) leads to another split. Their relationship continues to ebb and flow throughout the rest of the book.
In the hands of a less competent writer, the plot - in summary, will they/won’t they get/stay together? - could have disintegrated into an episode or six of Neighbours.
Instead, the writing is spare and precise, without sentimentality. The dialogue often feels depressingly real and captures the painfulness of early experience and how young people seem to thrive at one minute and stumble the next.
Whether you actually care about what happens to Marianne and Connell or just want to toss the book across the room with great force is likely to vary from reader to reader.
Some of us were highly frustrated by the ending where it seems Marianne slips back into submissiveness without the power to act decisively. Others felt that Connell should flee while he had the chance and leave Marianne to find herself a good shrink. Still others felt quietly confident that the pair have a good future because of their shared history built from weathering difficult and painful experiences together.
For those of you who just want to watch the action, not read it, the series is currently on Stan.
Who is Sally Rooney?
Sally Rooney, 29, is an Irish author whose debut novel,
Conversations with Friends, was published in 2017.
She grew up in Castlebar, County Mayo, and studied English at Trinity College, Dublin, where she was elected a scholar in 2011. She started but did not complete a master’s degree in politics. Instead, she completed a degree in American literature and graduated with an MA in 2013.
She was well known among students as a top debater, representing Trinity College at the European University Debating Championships in 2013. She now lives in Dublin.
Normal People was published in 2018 and was long listed for the 2018 Man Booker Prize. It was voted as the 2018 Waterstones’ Book of the Year and won Best Novel at the 2018 Costa Book Awards.
In 2019 it was long listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, one of the UK's most prestigious literary prizes. A television series based on the novel premiered in April this year on BBC Three, on Australian streaming service, Stan, and in Ireland on RTE One.
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In the same way, we hope you will take away from our reviews some pearlers to share with your regular club.
