{"product_id":"sally-rooney-intermezzo","title":"Intermezzo by Rooney  Sally","description":"\u003cp class=\"my-2 [\u0026amp;+p]:mt-4 [\u0026amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [\u0026amp;_strong:has(+br)]:pb-2\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIntermezzo\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"my-2 [\u0026amp;+p]:mt-4 [\u0026amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [\u0026amp;_strong:has(+br)]:pb-2\"\u003eIn the weeks after their father's death, two brothers attempt to navigate a world that no longer contains him—and find themselves estranged in ways they can barely name. Peter, a successful Dublin lawyer in his thirties, copes by medicating himself into sleep and juggling impossible emotional obligations: his enduring love for Sylvia, whose chronic pain keeps them suspended in longing, and his entanglement with Naomi, a college student for whom life is a performance and escape.\u003cspan class=\"citation-nbsp\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-state=\"closed\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"citation inline\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/booksthatslay.com\/intermezzo-by-sally-rooney-summary-characters-and-themes\/\" class=\"inline\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"my-2 [\u0026amp;+p]:mt-4 [\u0026amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [\u0026amp;_strong:has(+br)]:pb-2\"\u003eIvan, his younger brother by a decade, is a competitive chess prodigy whose promising career has stalled. Socially awkward and withdrawn, he meets Margaret—a 36-year-old recently divorced woman emerging from a turbulent marriage—at a chess exhibition. Their connection is immediate, intense, and discreet; for Ivan, it becomes a way to feel alive in his grief. For Margaret, it awakens something she thought was lost.\u003cspan class=\"citation-nbsp\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-state=\"closed\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"citation inline\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bookspaperscissors.co.uk\/products\/intermezzo-pre-order-sally-rooney-24-september\" class=\"inline\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"my-2 [\u0026amp;+p]:mt-4 [\u0026amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [\u0026amp;_strong:has(+br)]:pb-2\"\u003eSally Rooney's fourth novel is a profound meditation on sibling bonds, male vulnerability, and the architecture of desire across age, class, and circumstance. At 448 pages, \u003cem\u003eIntermezzo\u003c\/em\u003e deepens Rooney's examination of how we fail to love well, and how love persists anyway—in the tender gaps between what we want and what we can admit to ourselves we deserve.\u003cspan class=\"citation-nbsp\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-state=\"closed\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"citation inline\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/23\/books\/review\/sally-rooney-intermezzo.html\" class=\"inline\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"my-2 [\u0026amp;+p]:mt-4 [\u0026amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [\u0026amp;_strong:has(+br)]:pb-2\"\u003ePerfect for readers who loved \u003cem\u003eNormal People\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eBeautifully Ordinary\u003c\/em\u003e for their intimate psychological portraiture and moral complexity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Literary Cat Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52790134997256,"sku":"9780571365487","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0967\/7688\/0392\/files\/9780571365487.jpg?v=1762969220","url":"https:\/\/literarycatbooks.myshopify.com\/products\/sally-rooney-intermezzo","provider":"Literary Cat Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}