Normal People

Current #1 bestselling paperback in the UK - read the word-of-mouth phenomenon!

'Effortlessly brilliant ... tender and devastating.' - Guardian Books of the Year

Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in 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.

'Brilliant ... It takes immense talent to write this well and make it look so easy ... This is a novel that one enjoys like comfort food, with delight, all in a rush, and only once it has been consumed does one realise how formidable and nourishing it is, how heavy it sits inside you, a treat you'll be digesting long after you leave the table.' - The Australian

'Rooney's work is undeniably a voice for millennial fiction. My generation. Reading it felt like someone had captured my thoughts (even the secret ones) and made me feel less alone - until it ended, and then it was heartbreaking.' - Annie Brown, Good Weekend, Sydney Morning Herald

'In Normal People, Sally Rooney essentially gives us a field guide to relating to other humans - with the in-built pleasures of an exceptionally good literary romance.' - Sydney Morning Herald

'What makes Rooney's books so captivating and impossible to put down is the way she crafts characters and dialogue-at times, the conversations in her books can seem so real that you almost feel like you're eavesdropping on something you shouldn't be.' - Vanity Fair

'The first great millennial novelist.' - The New Yorker

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2018 and Winner of Specsavers National Book Awards International Author of the Year

Long-listed for MAN Booker Prize 2018
Long-listed for Women's Prize for Fiction 2019

Sally Rooney was born in 1991 and lives in Dublin. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker, Granta, The White Review, The Dublin Review, The Stinging Fly, Kevin Barry's Stonecutter and The Winter Page anthology. Her debut novel, Conversations with Friends, was the most popular debut in the 2017 end-of-year round-ups. Rooney was shortlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award for 'Mr Salary' and was the winner of the Sunday Times/PFD Young Writer of the Year Award.

'THE LITERARY PHENOMENON OF THE DECADE' - Guardian NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES WHICH WILL PREMIERE IN AUSTRALIA ON STAN ON APRIL 27 Winner of the 2019 Novel of the Year and Book of the Year at the British Book Awards Winner of the 2018 Costa Novel Award Winner of Specsavers National Book Awards International Author of the Year Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2018 Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2019 'Effortlessly brilliant ... tender and devastating.' - Guardian Books of the Year Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in 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. 'Brilliant ... It takes immense talent to write this well and make it look so easy ... This is a novel that one enjoys like comfort food, with delight, all in a rush, and only once it has been consumed does one realise how formidable and nourishing it is, how heavy it sits inside you, a treat you'll be digesting long after you leave the table.' - The Australian 'Rooney's work is undeniably a voice for millennial fiction. My generation. Reading it felt like someone had captured my thoughts (even the secret ones) and made me feel less alone - until it ended, and then it was heartbreaking.' - Annie Brown, Good Weekend, Sydney Morning Herald 'In Normal People , Sally Rooney essentially gives us a field guide to relating to other humans - with the in-built pleasures of an exceptionally good literary romance.' - Sydney Morning Herald 'What makes Rooney's books so captivating and impossible to put down is the way she crafts characters and dialogue-at times, the conversations in her books can seem so real that you almost feel like you're eavesdropping on something you shouldn't be.' - Vanity Fair 'The first great millennial novelist.' - The New Yorker

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.