Bound to be controversial, Sally Rooney’s fourth long-awaited new novel, Intermezzo, is finally here.
Released on Sept. 24, Rooney’s longest novel yet follows two brothers who are both grieving the recent death of their father. Set in Dublin, the oldest brother’s a lawyer named Peter who’s 33 years old, and entangled with his complex ex-girlfriend of the same age, Sylvia, and his new young girlfriend of 23, Naomi. The youngest brother is a 22 year old avid chess player named Ivan who, throughout the novel, falls in love with a 36 year old woman, Margaret.
The juxtaposition of the age-gaps within the brothers’ two romantic relationships offers an interesting commentary on gender roles. As a reader, Margaret is the only woman’s perspective we’re given. Due to the age gap, throughout her relationship with Ivan, she feels shameful and guilty, often worrying about the relationship and other people’s perceived judgements. Whereas, perhaps due to his grief, Peter doesn’t seem to reflect with sensitivity upon his own relationship with Naomi in the same introspective way Margaret does with Ivan.
It seems an older man with a younger woman is much more accepted by society. Whereas, personally as a reader, I found Margaret to be initially less unsettling than Peter.
I was looking forward to seeing Rooney take on family dynamics, as most of her novels don’t include familial relations, besides very minor roles, which are often held in an unhappy regard. I’m the oldest of five siblings, and my youngest sister and I are 12 years apart. Ivan and Peter are 10 years apart, and I was touched by the way Rooney explored the chasms that occur when siblings are separated by a decade and constant different eras of life while growing up.
The concept of grieving a parent is inseparable to the plot and the brothers choices throughout the story. Rooney found a way to unpack family dynamics for all of its love, hurt, complexity, and resentments.
Before reading, I was a little nervous as this novel seemed much more male-centred than her other stories. I thought the most classic Rooney introspective voice came through from Margaret and, by extension, Ivan. Unsurprisingly, upon research, I found out the character and voice that came to Rooney first for the novel was Margaret’s.
The biggest change within Rooney’s writing was Peter’s interesting character. Peter’s perspective seemed different from the normal Rooney male character who’s very soft, sensitive, and kind. Not that Peter didn’t have these qualities, but the prose of his chapter felt like one stream of consciousness. I felt inserted into the mind of an addict for all of its chaos and distractions. Sometimes, he felt slightly creepy, arrogant, and narcissist, while simultaneously very depressive.
As the stressed and confident eldest child of the family, Peter carries his cumbersome oldest brother guilt along with him. Peter drinks, medicates himself to sleep, and seeks solace only through his relationships with women. Whenever he’s with one of his girlfriends, his thoughts finally seem to slow down for the first time.
Rooney seems to effortlessly depict real and raw interpersonal relationships, while also crafting very relatable characters. Strangely I thought Peter was very relatable of a character for all his efforts and failings. I found Naomi’s carefree attitudes, Sylvia’s bursts of anger and hurt, and Margaret’s self-righteousness and vanity to be very human.
“Other people might experience these feelings all the time, whatever they are. Strong powerful feelings of happiness, satisfaction, protectiveness. It could all be very ordinary, in the aftermath of mutually pleasant episodes like just now. Or even if it’s rare, to have a few times in life and no more, still worth living for, he thinks,” Rooney writes, reflecting upon human connection.
As a Rooney fan, her maturity and seriousness becomes more and more evident throughout each of her new novels. Comparing her two most recent novels, I’ll choose Beautiful World, Where Are You (2022) over Intermezzo, because of how relatable the women were, how thoughtful the social takes were, and the commentary on relationships and friendships. However, the choice only takes place right now.
I’m certain Intermezzo will sit in my brain and pick at my thoughts for a while. With each re-read, the story will only offer me more and more, especially as I get older, reflecting upon my own grief, family, and romantic relationships.
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