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.


WINNER OF THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2018
WINNER OF THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEAR
WINNER OF NOVEL OF THE YEAR AND BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS
WINNER OF THE 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
SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD 2019
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ENCORE PRIZE 2019
LONGLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2019

Sally Rooney is the author of the novels Conversations with Friends and Normal People. Her writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the London Review of Books and elsewhere. Conversations with Friends was shortlisted for both the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Rathbones Folio Prize, and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize. Rooney was also 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. Normal People was the Waterstones Book of the Year 2019 and won the Costa Novel of the Year in 2018. It was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2018, as well as the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Rathbones Folio Prize in 2019. Sally Rooney co-wrote the television adaptation of Normal People which was broadcast on the BBC in 2020.