Normal People

A Novel

By: Sally Rooney

Narrated by: Aoife McMahon

Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Now an Emmy-nominated a Hulu original series • New York Times best seller

"A stunning novel about the transformative power of relationships" (People) from the author of Conversations with Friends, "a master of the literary page-turner" (J. Courtney Sullivan).

One of the 10 best novels of the decade - Entertainment Weekly

Ten best books of the year - People, Slate, the New York Public Library, Harvard Crimson

Best books of the year - The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, O: The Oprah Magazine, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Vogue, Esquire, Glamour, Elle, Marie Claire, Vox, The Paris Review, Good Housekeeping, Town & Country

Connell and Marianne grew up in the same small town, but the similarities end there. At 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.

A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

Normal People is the 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 that they can’t.

Praise for Normal People

"[A] novel that demands to be read compulsively, in one sitting." (The Washington Post)

"Arguably the buzziest novel of the season, Sally Rooney’s elegant sophomore effort...is a worthy successor to Conversations with Friends. Here, again, she unflinchingly explores class dynamics and young love with wit and nuance." (The Wall Street Journal)

"[Rooney] has been hailed as the first great millennial novelist for her stories of love and late capitalism.... [She writes] some of the best dialogue I’ve read." (The New Yorker)

©2019 Sally Rooney (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"[Narrator] Aoife McMahon, a skillful actor with a gorgeous Irish accent, makes each personality idiosyncratic and believable, and perfectly captures their confusion at being young and emotionally innocent, and trying to be decent but with no idea how to manage it. Rooney's subtle writing and engrossing plot work with McMahon's nimble and witty performance to balance your sympathies on a knife edge between these unforgettable characters." (AudioFile Magazine)

“I’m transfixed by the way Rooney works, and I’m hardly the only one...like any confident couturier, she’s slicing the free flow of words into the perfect shape.... She writes about tricky commonplace things (text messages, sex) with a familiarity no one else has.” (The Paris Review)

"This superb book more than lives up to the high expectations set for it by Rooney's lauded first novel.... Showcasing Rooney's focus and ability in building character relationships that are as subtle and infinite as real-life ones, and her perceptive portrayal of class, Normal People gets at the hard work of becoming a person and the near impossibility of knowing if a first love is a true one." (Booklist)

"I went into a tunnel with this book and didn’t want to come out. Absolutely engrossing and surprisingly heart-breaking with more depth, subtlety, and insight than any one novel deserves. Young love is a subject of much scorn, but Rooney understands the cataclysmic effects our youth has on the people we become. She has restored not only love’s dignity, but also its significance." (Stephanie Danler, author of Sweetbitter)

Beautiful, compelling

The story is so compelling and engrossing, the writing is beautiful, and the narrator is excellent. It’s overall just a dream of a novel. I felt I lived in the world of this book during the hours I listened, and it’s so worthwhile.

Blah!

I kept waiting for a change in the story line or the characters. This book just seemed to go on and on. Nothing exciting here!

Depressing

I’ll think twice before listening to Audibles recommendations. This book is twisted, not in a good Stephen King, Joe Hill kind of twisted, but mental and physical abuse twisted. A big downer!

Good for her !! Good for him !! Good for them !!

I know a lot of people won't "like" the ending, (and if you have had someone tell you this I still recommend reading,) I hope you appreciate the ending like I do... now haha it took me a few don't get me wrong.
Its a wonderful, heartbreakingly "normal" ending.

P.S. The show and the book are like verbatim, which surprised me.

Sorry, didn’t get the hype

I can’t imagine why this book is so lauded. It’s the first I’ve read of Sally Rooney and didn’t care for it much at all. I know it’s been made into a tv show, which I haven’t seen, but it doesn’t inspire me to watch. Marianne is not sympathetic and Connell, a nice enough guy is just there. Marianne is clearly damaged and you can tell it’s from her horrible family, but there is no depth to that part of the story. Why do her mother and brother abuse her so horribly? Why does the mother side with the brother?

I just didn’t get it. The whole thing seemed kind of pointless with no real plot or evolution or resolution of these characters.

Good

I didn’t buy the book originally because of the negative reviews, but it is amazing. Yes, it’s not the Happily Ever After type of book, but it’s so substantially more. Yes the ending is abrupt, but it leaves it open for the reader to decide the fate of these two people. The author’s descriptions are phenomenal as well as her storytelling. I will say, however, I did not enjoy the narration as much.

Story of Misfits and Fate

It’s true what they say- it demands to be read continuously, finished it within a day. The book doesn’t wow me but the story is engaging.

Good performance and an ok story

I liked mainly the end but I struggle a little to get there. Some things I thought pointless in this story and Marianne and Connell kind of made me very annoying with their lack of communication. However the last chapters were interesting, but I didn't like the lack of an end for the story.
The performance was very good.

Beautiful book, perfect narration

Having just finished this, I want to immediately start in on Sally Rooney’s previous book “Conversations with Friends”. The writing is sublime and the narrator perfectly embodies both the musicality of the prose and the voices of the two protagonists. These are characters worth spending time with and there is deep pleasure in getting to know them so intimately and to witnessing how their lives unfold over the course of a handful of years. Loved it.

Beautiful

Captivating, beautiful and relatable. I couldn’t stop listening. Rooney is a master storyteller. I loved this book