If you love modern Irish literature, then Sally Rooney is the name for you! Born on February 20, 1991 in Castlebar, County Mayo, this talented novelist has made a name for herself around the world with such sensitive works as Conversation with Friends and Normal People. Her signature style: intimate, tortured stories of great finesse, exposing the generation of millenials, with their reflections and anxieties of everyday life…
Trinity college, Dublin – © Kit Leong
Sally Rooney was born in February 1991 in County Mayo, Ireland. At the time, his father worked for Telecom Éireann, and his mother ran an art center.
The young girl grows up with an older brother and a younger sister… She soon discovered a keen interest in learning and began studying at Trinity College Dublin, where she was elected as a scholar.
Initially, she decided to study political science for her master’s degree, but soon switched to a master’s degree in English and American literature.
After graduating, she worked at a number of jobs before choosing a career as an author.
In 2015, she published an autobiographical essay entitled Even if you beat me.
She followed this up with her very first novel in 2017: Conversations with Friends in 2017. It features a polyamorous story, linking 4 Dubliners: two young Trinity College students, and an older married couple. A story that reveals the complexity of the new generations, their questions in a particularly complex modern society, and their quest for answers…
Critically acclaimed, Sally Rooney won the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award.
Normal People
Far from resting on her laurels, Sally Rooney released her second novel, “Normal People”, in 208. It was an immediate success, selling over a million copies. It tells the love story of two young adults, Marianne Sheridan and Connell Waldron, from completely opposite social backgrounds.
Similar subjects are tackled: love, social pressure, class differences, the quest for self, sexuality, and the difficulty for new generations to find meaning in today’s society.
Such was its success that the novel was even adapted into a series… A real springboard for the author, who is now internationally renowned. She’s been called a contemporary Jane Austin, or a J.D. Salinger. Flattering comparisons, which turn the spotlight on the young novelist.
In 2021, she released her third novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You. A new novel that has been particularly well received by critics and the public alike…
In 2022, Conversations with Friends was adapted as a new series. An initmist and complex show, which, although interesting, has met with less success than Normal People.
Whatever the case, Sally Rooney has become a hugely popular figure in Irish literature. There’s no doubt that his next writings will make a big splash!
