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 — and then a secret relationship — everything changes.
Throughout their years at Trinity College Dublin, they circle each other, coming together and drifting apart, their lives and loves intertwined in ways neither fully understands. Normal People is a story about how one person can transform another — about the strange and lasting ways we shape each other's lives.
Sally Rooney's second novel is a tender, precise and deeply moving portrait of intimacy, class and the push and pull of modern relationships. It became a global phenomenon and a hit TV series, and it's easy to see why.