Normal People

Normal People is a 2018 novel by the Irish author Sally Rooney. Normal People is Rooney's second novel, published after Conversations with Friends (2017). It was first published by Faber & Faber on 30 August 2018. The book became a bestseller in the United States, selling almost 64,000 copies in hardcover in its first four months of release. It was also a bestseller in China, where its coming of age theme was popular with younger readers. A critically acclaimed and Emmy nominated television adaptation of the same name aired from April 2020 on BBC Three and Hulu. A number of publications ranked it one of the best books of the 2010s.

The novel follows the complex friendship and relationship between two teenagers from different social classes, Connell and Marianne, who both attend the same secondary school in County Sligo, Ireland, and, later, Trinity College Dublin (TCD). It is set during the post-2008 Irish economic downturn, from 2011 through 2015.

Connell is a popular, handsome, and highly intelligent secondary school student raised by a working-class single mother. Marianne is also highly intelligent but is considered intimidating and a social outcast at their school. Lorraine, Connell's mother, is warm and loving towards him, while Marianne's mother and brother are emotionally abusive towards her. Marianne's wealthy mother employs Lorraine as a housecleaner, allowing Marianne and Connell to meet. They are attracted to each other and begin a sexual relationship, bonding over their mutual interest in literature and politics. Marianne convinces Connell to apply to Trinity College with her. Connell keeps their affair a secret from his friends and invites a popular classmate, Rachel, to the Debs as his date, humiliating Marianne.

After the summer, Connell and Marianne run into each other at Trinity and reconcile. Marianne blossoms at university, becoming pretty and popular, while Connell struggles to fit in. They become close friends and resume their sexual relationship. Connell is unable to afford rent in Dublin for the summer and too embarrassed to ask to move in with Marianne. He asks whether Marianne would want to see other people while he is away, which she interprets as him breaking off their relationship.

Marianne begins dating Jamie, the self-centered son of a wealthy banker who is also a sadist. Connell begins a relationship with Helen, another student at Trinity, though he remains friends with Marianne.

Marianne breaks up with Jamie, causing much of her social circle to turn against her. She studies abroad for a year in Sweden and keeps in touch with Connell by email. Connell experiences severe depression and anxiety after discovering that a friend from secondary school has died by suicide. He brings Helen to the funeral, which Marianne also attends. Helen questions Connell's continued interest in Marianne, and they eventually break up.

Connell and Marianne remain close over the summer, frequently visiting each other. Marianne encourages Connell's interest in writing and supports him through his depression. They admit their continued feelings for each other and begin to have sex, though Marianne leaves after Connell refuses to hit her. When Marianne's abusive brother injures her, Connell confronts him and takes her to safety. When they return to Trinity, they move in together. Connell receives a surprise acceptance to an MFA program in New York City and offers to reject it, knowing Marianne would like to stay in Dublin, but Marianne encourages him to attend even though they will be apart, saying he knows that she will always be there for him.

Normal People was longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize. It was voted the 2018 Waterstones Book of the Year and won Best Novel at the 2018 Costa Book Awards. In 2019, the novel was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction. The same year, it ranked 25th on The Guardian's list of "The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, where it was also listed as one of the books that "defined the decade".