Sally Rooney on Not Adapting Third Novel, ‘Normal People’ Discourse

Sally Rooney Takes a Break from TV Adaptations

Sally Rooney, the acclaimed author behind “Normal People” and “Conversations With Friends,” has decided to step back from future TV adaptations of her work. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Rooney revealed that she has chosen not to accept any offers to option the rights for her latest book, “Beautiful World, Where Are You?,” which was released in 2021. When asked about her decision, Rooney explained that she felt it was time to let the book stand on its own for a while.

After the success of “Normal People” and the more mixed reviews of “Conversations With Friends,” Rooney expressed that she wasn’t as involved in the latter adaptation due to focusing on writing “Beautiful World, Where Are You?” Despite this, she has no regrets about her level of involvement in the TV adaptations.

Reflecting on her experience with “Normal People,” Rooney shared, “The experience of working on [‘Normal People’] had been, in so many ways, amazing — the team of people involved in it. But it did also feel like a really big job. Then, when the show was broadcast, that felt like a lot in terms of the amount of discourse that it generated and the amount of media attention. I felt that world was not where I belonged. I felt like, ‘OK, now I know that my books are where I belong, and that’s all that I want to be doing.’”

Rooney’s upcoming fourth book, “Intermezzo,” delves into the lives of two brothers navigating grief and love in distinct ways. Addressing her decision to write from a male perspective in this book, Rooney explained, “I’m aware that people think that my work is heavily autobiographical, and in fact, it isn’t. It felt like they were just fictional characters, like all my other fictional characters, and I was intrigued by them. So the question of gender felt very secondary, but there were moments where I thought, Have I got any of this right?”

“Intermezzo” is set to hit bookshelves on Tuesday, offering readers a new perspective on Rooney’s storytelling prowess.