Normal People- Sally Rooney

Synopsis:

The novel begins with two Irish teenagers, Connell and Marianne, who fall into a deeply complex relationship, concealed from the outside world through lies and secrecy. Throughout the course of their lives, despite the passing of time, their bond remains unbreakable- though not without its complications. As they move from high-school, to university, and into adulthood, Connell and Marianne drift apart and come back together repeatedly, each time changed in small, significant ways. Their relationship is marked by miscommunication, vulnerability, and deep emotional intimacy, capturing the subtle turbulence of love, identity, and growing up. Normal people is not a story driven by plot twists, but by the emotional evolution of two people whose lives are irrevocably intertwined.

Thoughts:

Honestly, I found writing the synopsis to this story a challenge, in the sense that this book doesn’t hold the typical shocking drama element which romance novels often do. This story was simple, raw, and relatable. There was no huge plot twists, no mind-rattling turn of events, rather Rooney found a way to capture the soft and heart-aching nature of life by creating such a memorable piece of literature. In reading this book, I found myself in awe at the way the author was able to capture the emotional undercurrents of ordinary experiences- the things we feel but rarely ever say. It made me realise that life doesn’t always unfold in dramatic acts, but in the quiet pauses, the missed connections, the way someone’s presence can shape you even when they’re gone. Rooney made the internal feel external, and gave weight to silences in a way that stayed with me long after I’d put down the book.

Structure:

To me, the structure of this book captures the quiet truth as to how life feels. Rather than guiding the reader through Connell and Marianne’s lives in a smooth, continuous timeline, Rooney breaks the narrative into moments spaced months apart. These time stamps aren’t just stylistic, they reflect something deeper. There are no filler chapters, no artificial sense of “progress” to push the story forward. And that’s exactly what makes it feel so honest. Because in reality, our lives don’t unfold like novels. There are long stretches of routine, of emotional stillness, or even disconnection- and sometimes, that’s when the most meaningful shifts are quietly happening.

I found it refreshing that Rooney didn’t feel the need to dramatize or dress up the everyday. Instead, she leaned into the slow burn of life- how things develop quietly, sometimes in the background of ordinary moments. We work. We eat. We talk to people. We carry old thoughts into new conversations. And somewhere in all this repetition, something changes, even if we don’t notice it until much later.

As readers, we are only given fragments of Marianne and Connell’s story: a series of glimpses that feel more like memories than chapters. And in many ways, this broken chronology mirrors how we remember people we have loved. Not in a neat, linear order, but in flashes: a sentence they once said, the way they looked at you in a certain moment, the silence after an argument. Rooney trusts us to sit with these fragments and piece together the meaning ourselves, which only deepens our emotional investment.

In the end, what struck me most was how this novel reminded me that love, real love, doesn’t always look like how we expect. It’s not always clear or exciting. Sometimes it’s complicated, repetitive, and even painful. But beneath the uncertainty, there’s a quiet kind of beauty in the persistence of connection, in the way two people can keep finding their way back to each other, even when nothing is simple. And to me, that is a truth worth keeping.

How did you find this book? I’d love to hear your take on Rooney’s intentions in the comments below.