With “Intermezzo,” Sally Rooney Is All Grown Up: ‘I Didn't Want to Be 'the Young Novelist''

The author spoke with 'The Guardian' ahead of the publication of her highly-anticipated novel 'Intermezzo'

In recent years, Irish author Sally Rooney, 33, has been considered a wunderkind of the literary world, thanks to the breakout success of 2017’s Conversations with Friends, 2018’s Normal People and 2021’s Beautiful World, Where Are You.

But in a recent interview with The Guardian, the author says that she no longer feels like her reputation as “Salinger for the Snapchat generation” fits where she is as a writer today.

“I really feel like I’m not lying when I say I’m quite keen to leave that all behind,” Rooney told the publication. “I didn’t actually want to be ‘the young novelist’; I just wanted to be good.”

Rooney’s fourth novel, Intermezzo, comes out on Sept. 24, and has strong similarities to — and departures from — her previous books. It still takes place in her native Ireland and focuses on the interpersonal relationships between young people. But Intermezzo follows two brothers who are a decade apart in age and struggling in the aftermath of their father’s death, as well as the women with whom they are romantically involved. Fraught male sibling dynamics, and the way they quietly (or not so quietly) erupt on the page, mark new ground for Rooney.

“I was very aware that I was stepping outside my own social reality,” Rooney said. Despite that, Intermezzo has become one of the most-anticipated book releases of the fall. TikTok users — as well as celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker — proudly showed off their coveted early review copies of the book online, and Rooney's dedicated readership are already singing the novel's praises.

Related: Listen to Normal People Actor Éanna Hardwicke Narrate Sally Rooney’s Forthcoming Novel Intermezzo (Exclusive)

Rooney, however, told The Guardian that the fame that comes with being a sought-after author — particularly a female author — can be difficult as well.

“The experience of being a young woman in the public eye is not always a completely pleasant or easy one. There’s so much to say and think and argue about when it comes to the role of young women in our culture,” Rooney said. “But I would love not to be the focal point on which that discussion sometimes rests. I would love that not to be me.”

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Rooney’s work is also beloved beyond the page. Normal People was adapted into a Hulu and BBC Three series in 2020 starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal; Rooney served as a screenwriter and executive producer. Conversations with Friends, starring Joe Alwyn, Alison Oliver, Jemima Kirke and Sasha Lane, followed suit with a TV adaptation in 2022. But the author said that some aspects of her life haven’t changed at all, despite her success.

Related: Sally Rooney Explores ‘Ethical Complexity’ in New Novel Intermezzo — See the Cover Here! (Exclusive)

“I still live the same existence and know all the same people. I haven’t gone anywhere,” the author said. “So I don’t feel that my experience of success, although it absolutely has been a huge part of my life, has taken me away from normal life in a way that makes it difficult for me to write about people experiencing ordinary problems.”

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“I am blessed with a love of writing,” Rooney added. “I love working.”

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