Normal People by Sally Rooney, long-listed for the 2018 Man Booker Prize, follows two protagonists, Marianne and Connell, beginning in their last year of high school and continuing through the next four years. Both are super-smart, obsessed with each other, live in single-parent homes, and are complex. She comes from wealth and he’s working class (Connell’s mother cleans Marianne’s house). Her family is abusive and his isn’t. She’s shunned by everyone (at least initially) and likes it that way, and he’s popular, seemingly well-adjusted, managing to conceal profound insecurities that threaten to overwhelm him. Both of them, like many adolescents, think they aren’t “normal,” but who is? This award-winning novel is a beautiful, layered, and poignant study of two flawed and sensitive characters. Here’s what Kirkus Reviews says:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sally-rooney/normal-people/
