As a father with a passion for books, I have long encouraged my children to read—reading the classics to them at night before bed, giving them novels, helping them with their required reading for school, or taking them to the theater. As is often the case with education, the rewards aren’t immediate, but patience pays off and sometimes brings wonderful surprises.
One such surprise came when my daughter Héloïse suggested to me a few years ago to read “Normal People” by the young Irish novelist Sally Rooney. I think I’d seen this novel on bookstore shelves before, but at first glance, it hadn’t caught my attention. I trusted my daughter’s judgment, and I wasn’t disappointed. I really enjoyed this book, with its simple, direct, yet precise and well-balanced writing, which describes the evolution of the relationship between Connell and Marianne as they transition from adolescence to adulthood.
At their high school in a small town in Ireland, Connell—a handsome boy and a player on the rugby team—is popular. As for Marianne, she’s considered awkward and is the victim of bullying. Outside of school, they run into each other because Lorraine, Connell’s mother, works as a housekeeper for Marianne’s parents. Little by little, they develop a romantic relationship, but Connell keeps it a secret from his classmates.
Both are gifted students and are admitted into the prestigious Trinity College in Dublin. But there, the tables turn. Marianne thrives in the academic world and becomes one of the most popular girls in her class, while Connell struggles to fit in with a crowd whose unwritten rules he doesn’t understand. Over the course of their years in Dublin, their relationship goes through ups and downs. Marianne finds herself under the thumb of another friend who is abusive, while Connell suffers from severe depression. Yet they never lose touch, and aware of their respective insecurities, they eventually rekindle.
This novel, which has become one of the defining works of the Millennial generation, has also been adapted into an excellent and highly successful TV series. Beyond illustrating the complexity of a romantic relationship that transcends social classes, “Normal People” also offers an unvarnished yet moving portrait of the joys and sorrows of love at the dawn of the 21st century.
A few days ago, Héloïse and I were in Dublin. Our first stop was Trinity College. Of course, we toured its magnificent library and the exhibition of the Book of Kells manuscripts; we reflected on the role of this former bastion of Protestantism during the 1916 Irish Rebellion, but we also strolled around campus to revisit the places where Marianne and Connell—as well as Sally Rooney—attended classes and spent the early years of their adult lives.
