In Sally Rooney's second novel Normal People, Rooney works to subvert conventional notions of intimacy by portraying the complex nature of the relationship between the novel's two protagonists, Marianne and Connell. The two go to secondary school together in the same small town in Ireland, but Connell is popular, while Marianne is an outcast. While the story itself is not a new one, the dynamics of the couple's relationship allow for the depiction of themes such as the effects of trauma, the nature of human connection, and the ways in which humans participate in the construction of each other's identities.
