A beautiful albeit painful story of the 4 year on-off relationship between two Irish teenagers. You feel the highs and the lows, the awkwardness yet exquisite nature of first love as well as the agony. Oh, the agony.
Marianne is a loner at school, proud, intense, very clever, from a household without love or attention. Callum is charming, sporty, popular and intelligent. An unlikely match made even less likely by Callum’s mother being Marianne’s housekeeper but they have chemistry and a connection they can’t deny. Their relationship begins in secret adding to the challenges and feelings of worthlessness, so when you add in lashings of self doubt from both sides, you can see how the rollercoaster builds.
All the memories of our formative years flash back as we become engrossed in their story. Just two normal people who fall in love. As the chapters alternate between our star-crossed lovers you will them together, you implore them to make it work. Always so far and yet so close. So close and yet so far.
As their journey continues at Trinity College, Marianne blossoms and Callum shrinks into the background, losing his way, now the outsider feeling so out of place away from home. As they drift in and out of each other’s lives you are so emotionally invested in this oh so real love story.
Bravo to Sally Rooney for her stunning narrative and writing which elevates this to another level. Be prepared to be heartbroken, just like the first time.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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Closing date: 04/07/2026
Costa Novel Award Winner 2018
Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in rural Ireland. The similarities end there; they are from very different worlds. When they both earn places at Trinity College in Dublin, a connection that has grown between them lasts long into the following years. This is an exquisite love story about how a person can change another person's life - a simple yet profound realisation that unfolds beautifully over the course of the novel. It tells us how difficult it is to talk about how we feel and it tells us - blazingly - about cycles of domination, legitimacy and privilege. Alternating menace with overwhelming tenderness, Sally Rooney's second novel breathes fiction with new life.
Normal People features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Book Club Recommendations, Audiobooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations, Romance / Relationship Stories
Normal People is available in Paperback, Ebook, Hardback, Audiobook
Normal People was written by Sally Rooney and published by Faber & Faber
Normal People has 266 pages
£8.99