The biggest laugh I had over its 12 episodes came early on, when the beautiful Marianne begs the handsome Connell to follow his heart and study English literature at Trinity College, Dublin, rather than being diverted into some more superficially productive course. Its obvious sincerity and presentation of two young people discovering their intellectual and sexual horizons together was admirable the complete lack of humor in its po-faced seriousness, less so. The television adaptation of Rooney’s sophomore novel Normal People, broadcast shortly after the beginning of lockdown and co-written by her, showcased her strengths and weaknesses as a writer admirably. Those of us who are neither millennials nor uncritically adoring of a young novelist may find this hype somewhere between amusing and inexplicable. GQ wrote excitedly about a bright yellow hat, emblazoned with her latest novel’s title, saying ‘Behold: the Sally Rooney bucket hat.’ She has also become an unlikely fashion icon. No doubt Beautiful World, Where Are You will add to the roster, if early praise is anything to go by. The Atlantic compared it to Goethe and Rooney herself was likened to Hemingway. She has published two previous novels, Conversations with Friends and Normal People, and is the recipient of prizes, including the Costa Novel of the Year, the Encore award and the Irish Book of the Year award. Since then, agents and publishers have fallen over themselves to be in business with the authentic voice of millennial literature. She began her career a mere six years ago, when she published the autobiographical essay ‘Even If You Beat Me’, about her time as a competitive debater.

In case you need to be reminded, Sally Rooney is 30. Meanwhile, when the book is published in the US and UK on September 7, 50 British retailers will be opening their doors early on the day, so eager purchasers can get their Rooney fix shortly after daybreak. Pre-publication proof copies of the novel have sold on eBay for hundreds of dollars, despite the US publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux having explicitly asked recipients of the advanced reading copies not to resell them, and even a promotional canvas tote bag is realizing nearly $100.

Books by sally rooney