Intermezzo

Sally Rooney's fourth novel, Intermezzo, focuses on the reverberating shockwaves of one recent loss and multiple past traumas. The novel opens at the funeral for Peter and Ivan Koubek's father where a rift is widening between the brothers: suave older Peter, a lawyer in Dublin, and awkward younger Ivan, a chess-player who has recently stalled in his rise in the rankings. They are furious with each other and frustrated with their lives. As the three women with whom their lives intersect romantically keep reminding them, they are also grieving. Ivan begins a relationship with Margaret, who is older, divorced,… show more.

Books about dysfunctional families are my jam and wow, the dysfunction goes deep here. The two brothers at the heart of the novel are utterly real as they grieve their father and ineptly navigate their rivalrous relationship and extremely messy love lives. Nobody does interiority or natural dialogue like Rooney. You become utterly immersed in the world she's created and the emotional rollercoasters the brothers ride. There is so much keen insight into the human condition here, and at the end, you are left feeling tender and hopeful about our world and the people in it.

'Intermezzo' explores grief as a complex phenomenon that can mould our personalities in unpredictable ways. Rooney doesn't view grief as a linear process or an emotion that openly announces its presence. Instead, she perceives loss as a creeping threat -- something people have to remain wary of as they go on with the business of living. I admire the author's ability to depict this theme in realistic hues.