Irish novelist Sally Rooney has been described as the “Snapchat Salinger” – a tag that she is eager to distance herself from. LONDON – Irish author Sally Rooney, hailed as the “voice of a generation” after the runaway success of Normal People, examines modern love in all its glory and friction in her fourth novel, Intermezzo. The book, out on Sept 24, includes all the elements of Rooney’s hugely popular oeuvre: keen observations on relationships, spiky, realistic dialogues played out in Dublin houses, erotic scenes, and existential conversations about the patriarchy and capitalism.
Having already created a number of striking female characters, the story focuses on two estranged brothers, Peter and Ivan, who come together in the weeks after their father’s death, and the romantic relationships they forge in a delicate period of mourning. Six years after her debut novel Conversations With Friends (2017), the characters are now 30-somethings like the author, and agonise over questions of motherhood and the climate crisis. Rooney’s pared-back and realistic style has also evolved, with precise dialogues dipping into vivid, internal monologues.
“I feel like the older I get, the more freedom I have to write about a greater range of life experiences,” the 33-year-old author told The Guardian in an interview. ‘Private person’ The publicity-shy Irish author, who grew up in the small town of Castlebar in County Mayo, was not prepared for the success of her secon.