Normal People by Irish author Sally Rooney balances a poignant will-they-won’t-they love affair with coming-of-age themes, as it follows Connell and Marianne through high school, university, and beyond, navigating the highs and lows of millennial life.
Their on-and-off ‘situationship’ that first begins as a secret relationship while they’re still teenagers in school, allows Rooney to explore how class divisions and socioeconomic factors can sometimes bring people together or drive them further apart.
At Trinity College, Connell and Marianne hang out in different social groups and date other people, despite maintaining a latent emotional interest in each other. Rooney’s deceptively lucid prose and clean, matter-of-fact sentences paint sharp portraits of her characters, while delving into themes of identity, class divides, and the vulnerabilities of young love.
So, if you’re in the mood for gut-wrenching literary fiction that explores the intricacies of contemporary romance and provides philosophical insights into human nature, these love stories will blow your heart and mind!
Here are six books like Normal People to read this September.
Intermezzo
If you loved Normal People, you should definitely check out Rooney’s other books, Conversations with Friends (2017), Beautiful World, Where Are You (2021), and her latest novel, Intermezzo (2024). Intermezzo, in particular, is concerned with power dynamics in relationships, particularly when there’s an age gap or a wealth disparity.
It follows two grieving brothers—Ivan, a chess prodigy, and Peter, a lawyer—who cope after the death of their father, in noticeably different ways. While shy and introverted Ivan begins a relationship with an older woman, the wealthy Peter is torn between his feelings for a young college student and his ex-girlfriend.
Unlike Rooney’s other novels, much of Intermezzo is written from the POVs of the male characters. It follows a stream-of-consciousness style of narration, making for a rather emotional and engrossing read.
Sputnik Sweetheart
Those who enjoy bittersweet love stories with a dash of horror-tinged magical realism, will certainly enjoy Sputnik Sweetheart, a slim novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami.
It features a sort of three-way love story, accompanied by numerous philosophical musings on loneliness and the need for human connection. The story is told through the perspective of K, an elementary school teacher in love with Sumire, an aspiring author, who is later drawn towards Mui, an older Korean woman.
From the pangs of unrequited love to the pressures to conform to societal expectations, Sputnik Sweetheart is a mature and astutely written novel that explores the complexities of the human psyche.
Everything I Know About Love
If you adore the depiction of millennial life in Rooney’s works, you’ll also enjoy Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton. Although not exactly fiction per se, Alderton's debut book is a compulsively readable literary memoir composed of satirical anecdotes, several lists, memorable vignettes, and even recipes.
Touching upon almost every aspect of adulthood, including workplace stress, partying, bad dates, therapy, female friendship, and more, Alderton’s memoir deftly balances humor and heart and is the perfect book to read for all those feeling lost in their twenties.
Stay with Me
Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀’s debut novel, Stay With Me, was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and follows a Nigerian couple as they struggle to conform to familial expectations.
It details the highs and lows of the relationship between Yejide and Akin, university sweethearts whose monogamous marriage is under threat when they’re unable to produce a child.
As family pressures mount on Akin to take up a second wife, Yejide resorts to more and more desperate measures to get pregnant and save the marriage from falling apart.
If you’re interested in how societal expectations and pressures dictate human relationships, Stay With Me offers an unflinching examination of the contemporary Nigerian ethos while ensuring the reader stays deeply invested in the main characters’ tribulations.
The Stationery Shop
Heartfelt, bittersweet, and endearing, the love story in Marjan Kamali’s The Stationary Shop of Tehran unfolds amidst the backdrop of political violence. The story begins in 1953 when young Roya loves to do nothing more than loiter in Mr. Fakhri’s cozy stationery shop, where she’s introduced to the handsome Baman, and the two slowly fall in love.
However, on the eve of their marriage, violence erupts in Tehran, separating the two earnest lovebirds across continents for many, many years—until fate, at last, provides an unexpected twist. Richly depicting Iranian culture, The Stationary Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali is a book that will make you laugh and cry.
All the Lovers in the Night
Finally, Mieko Kawakami’s All The Lovers in the Night reaches out to all those solitary, single women out there who wonder if there’s anything more to life other than love and romance.
This short, introspective novel follows Fuyuko Irie, a freelance copyeditor in her mid-thirties who lives and works alone, and over the course of a few months, develops a relationship with a mysterious man.
If you like slice-of-life narratives, ‘nanoship’ moments, and healing from trauma through solitude, Mieko Kawakami’s All The Lovers in the Night is an achingly tender must-read.
Featured image: Julian Dewert / Canva
