Intermezzo

Bookseller recommendation

“Two brothers, Ivan and Peter, navigate their relationships with each other and the women in their lives in the wake of their father's death. In their grief, the pair watch as the normal forms of their lives fall apart and they try their best to make sense of the wreckage. Sally Rooney does what she does best: sets up a wealth of interestingly and painfully human characters like pieces on a chessboard and watches one by one as they fall and pick themselves back up. The kind of book that makes learning chess worth it.”

— Will • Quail Ridge Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Here is a fascinatingly cerebral read with a highly unpredictable plot! Two brothers, (one an extrovert that things come to easily and the younger one who is a smart, chess playing "on the spectrum" introvert) face parallel challenges with women and their family. Filled with the exceptionally moody inner thoughts of both brothers and the very different yet engaging women they woo. Rooney's writing style is totally intriguing. ”

— Patience • Underground Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Rooney’s dazzling masterpiece explores the hidden depths of our relationships to one another. Peter and Ivan grieve the recent loss of their father. Never close, they struggle to avoid estrangement while navigating their very different lives.”

— Cody Morrison • Square Books

Bookseller recommendation

“As a major Sally Rooney fan, I couldn’t wait to read this one, and was very excited that it’s much longer than Normal People and Conversations With Friends so I could spend as much time as possible with her writing. Intermezzo explores the lives of two brothers who are about 10 years apart. Because the brothers are at very different stages of their lives, the book explores a vast number of themes. Since it is Salley Rooney, though, much of the novel dives deep into the romantic relationships of the brothers, both navigating what it means to be in love and how that can look very different depending on who it is that you love. In all her books, Sally Rooney does such a beautiful job of expressing one's inner thoughts in relationships, even those thoughts we want no one else to hear or know about, but through her writing, I feel less alone in having those thoughts. I especially loved how this book had an emphasis on the ever-changing relationship between siblings, as someone who has siblings myself. Full disclosure: I sobbed as I finished this book, but in the best possible way! ”

— Lark • Off the Beaten Path