After having my heart completely and utterly wretched again by the latest Sally Rooney novel, Intermezzo, I think it is fair to say she is writing some of the scariest books of our generation. Rooney’s ability to give every character relatable and often hateable traits, makes them so easy to fall in love with and her books so hard to put down. Whether it is Marianne’s struggle with self-worth, Connell’s miscommunication problems, Frances’ tendency to be hurtful, or Eileen’s tendency to feel everything so deeply.
Every reader can find parts of themselves in Rooney’s novels. All characters find themselves in and out of love, wrestling with modern-day relationships and coming of age, having to navigate school, university, long-distance relationships, different jobs, and awkward class dynamics. Technology is often more of a hindrance than help, leaving every character never fully feeling like there is any effective communication, with feelings often lost in the translation of text.
It isn’t a surprise the largest proportion of Rooney’s readership is aged between 18 and 30...
The way she writes often leaves the reader turning the mirror inwards, and as we go into spooky season, the prompted reflection about my own thoughts, feelings, and action is much scarier than any horror novel I have read recently. In Rooney’s latest novel we follow two brothers Ivan, a 22-year-old chess prodigy and Peter, a 32-year-old lawyer, in the wake of their father’s death.
We watch them both try to navigate sibling rivalry and tumultuous romantic relationships. Ivan falls in love with a much older woman called Margaret, who can understand and warm in his feelings of being a misfit. As they both struggle with the complexity of their relationship—Margaret more with the guilt and shame of the age gap, and Ivan with the grief of his father’s death—the vulnerability they both share helps the relationship to feel intimate and real.
Peter, however, is attempting to juggle relationships between Sylvia, his first lasting love, and Naomi, a much younger, unserious student. While medicating himself to sleep and grappling with the relationship between himself and Ivan, the ten-year age gap between the brothers and the baggage they both carry from childhood puts immense pressure on their relationship as they often can’t understand each other and end up in rows. This novel has been named Rooney’s best work yet with many glowing reviews from the BBC, The Standard and The Telegraph.
It reads with much more depth and maturity than any of her previous novels and as the book’s backbone is the “forced relationship” between the brothers we can understand her writing style from a whole new angle whilst appreciating the romantic relationships which both brothers are enduring. The everyday horror of the mundane and relentless introspection can leave you wrestling with your relationships and self-worth, meaning I would thoroughly recommend this book (or any of her previous novels) for anyone looking for a REAL emotional horror this Halloween.