Sally Rooney’s fourth novel, Intermezzo, offers a comforting yet challenging glimpse into the lives of two brothers navigating grief, love, and loss.
Intermezzo exists in the same landscape as Rooney’s previous work, taking the everyday human experience and illuminating the minute complexities and intimacies we so frequently overlook. Her novels are tied together through human connection, capturing the warmth of friendship, the necessity of desire, and the pains of mental illness. Intermezzo takes all that Rooney has done before and somehow magnifies it. She writes passages so seamlessly one forgets they are reading words on a page. As a fan, I believe Intermezzo to be her deepest and most profound work yet.
Following two brothers — Peter, a 32-year-old barrister and Ivan, a 22-year-old chess prodigy – this novel follows the trajectory of Ivan and Peter’s lives as they try to cope with the death of their father while simultaneously navigating intense familial and romantic relationships.
Through Peter we get a glimpse into the complexities of companionship, understanding that feelings do not die when we end a relationship and that it is possible to explore a plethora of different kinds of love with different people at the same time. Through Sylvia, Peter’s ex-girlfriend, we are able to see the dynamics of a tender, deeply emotional connection. Through Naomi, Peter’s current (much younger) girlfriend, we are able to explore physical intimacy and pleasure within a tumultuous relationship. To be in Peter’s mind as he grapples with the fact that he loves both women, differently yet simultaneously, the reader’s own mind is pushed beyond certain parameters, allowing them to question what love means, and how it should exist in their life.
Ivan’s storyline, on the other hand, allows the reader to explore a quiet and contemplative love between two grieving people. As he navigates his love of chess and the loss of his father, Ivan falls deeply in love with Margaret, a fragile older woman navigating divorce and reawakening desire. Their storyline offers a sense of renewal for the reader, that life does not end with hardship and that there is always something beautiful to be discovered, even in the most unlikely of places.
In the beginning, Intermezzo appears to be yet another story examining the disparity and hypocrisy of age gaps and gender roles. Thankfully, this novel quickly evolves into a much deeper meditation on companionship, the intricacies of desire, and the yearning to feel whole, to free oneself from the grasp of grief.
If you are searching for a story that will deeply move you, then look no further than Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo. There are passages in this novel, moments between characters, snapshots of intimacy that can only be described as pure magic. You will ache with these characters, become infuriated by them, and at times want nothing more than to reach into the pages and hug them. This novel will tug at your heartstrings and provide you will a whole new perspective on love and loss. I cannot recommend it enough.
