Sally Rooney

The novel is a story of mutual fascination, friendship, and love. Marianne and Connell grow up in a small town; in high school, Connell is one of the student stars and Marianne is an outsider. The moment they get together changes their lives. A year later, they are both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Meanwhile, Marianne has become a party queen while Connell, shy and uncertain, finds it hard to find his place in society. Although they move in different student circles, the two are drawn to each other like two magnets. Then, as Marianne falls into self-destruction and Connell begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

Published by Argo, 2020

Irish novelist Sally Rooney (born 1991) studied English at Trinity College Dublin; she also pursued political science and was involved in debating competitions during her studies. She put these three experiences – literature and the arts, political insight and argumentation skills – to excellent use in her first novel Conversations with Friends (in Czech in 2017), which became an unexpected bestseller soon after its publication and catapulted the author into the ranks of the most respected contemporary Anglophone authors.