NORMAL PEOPLE (Winner of the 2018 COSTA NOVEL AWARD)

London, UK: FABER & FABER, 2018. 1st Edition First Thus. Soft cover. New/None as Issued. Text/NEW & Bright. 2018 First Edition. Softcover/Fine w/a whisper of shelfwear. Award winning. critically acclaimed, 2nd novel by Irish author Sally Rooney (1991 - ), adapted to BBC television. Novel of friendship & relationship between two teenagers, Connell and Marianne of County Sligo, Ireland, during post-2008 Irish economic downturn, covering years 2011 through 2015. Sensitive, spellbinding 21st century love story. The two protagnists attend the same secondary school, and later, Trinity College Dublin (TCD). Both highly intelligent, but there, the similarities of life experiences end. They are of divergent social classes. In secondary school, handsome Connell, successfully conceals his mother's employ as a cleaning women in Marieanne's well-off home out of shame, is popular among peers; at the same time, Marianne is unpopular & considered intimidating. At Trinity College, their peer evaluations reverse --- Marianne blossoms, found attractive & becomes popular, while Connell struggles, for the first time, to fit in and be accepted. The two continue to weave in-and-out of each other's lives, developing an intense bond that brings to light traumas & insecurities that fashioned them into who they are.