Sally ROONEY : Normal people

Connell and Marianne grew up in the same small town of the west of Ireland, but the similarities end there. In school, Connell is popular and well-liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation - awkward but electrifying - something life-changing begins.

Normal people is a story of mutual fascination, friendship and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find they can't.

I went into this novel mostly blind : I'd heard about Sally Rooney but completely forgot about the theme of the book by the time I opened it. I know it's been adapted for TV but haven't watched the series.

It started out like a young adult romance (reserved rich unpopular girl has a crush on poor popular college guy), but the writing style was particular, direct and efficient. The story moved along time, we jumped from scene to scene, months or years apart.

Marianne didn't care what other people thought, she just cared about Connell. Connell did pay attention to others' expectations. He didn't want to be seen with Marianne even though he cared a lot about her. But to what extent ?

As the story progressed, the social roles reversed : Marianne showed more assurance in society, she didn't have to worry about money (and as a student, it's a great help), while Connell had to struggle for a living. Leaving their southern Irish hometown for Dublin provoked that change, when the majority of their friends remained behind. Yet Marianne would still do pretty much anything to please Connell, who didn't have a single idea what her family life was like and took his sweet time to find out what he wanted out of life.

There was a lot of miscommunication in that novel. You dearly wanted to shake them both !! That and the lack of self-assurance is something that normally irks me, like the sound of the dentist's roulette. I usually avoid that kind of novels like the plague. However, I stayed with them until the end because once I was in, even if I was frustrated, I wanted to know how it would end because, well, the novel was good. Given the general level of desperation, I didn't hope for a happy ending, but Sally Rooney managed to surprise me. And there again, I wanted to slap them both. But I think it was a good ending anyway and the story brushed serious problems (abuse, suicide, depression).

To sum it up : it's a coming of age story with insecure people, but written so well that I didn't care anyway. Am I ready to read another of Sally Rooney's books if it's about the same theme ? I'll see. Don't know yet.