On "Intermezzo" by Sally Rooney

Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo is an intimate novel that lingers in the weight of familial history. The story follows Peter and Ivan Koubek, two brothers navigating the loss of their father while entangled in their own complicated relationships. Peter, a lawyer in his thirties, wrestles with insomnia and the ghosts of his past, caught between Sylvia, his first love, and Naomi, a sharp-witted college student whose detachment both unsettles and intrigues him. Ivan, a competitive chess player, meets Margaret, a woman with a turbulent past, and their relationship deepens at a pace neither fully understands.

Rooney’s signature style, cool and emotionally understated, works to great effect here, with dialogue that crackles even when it feels deceptively mundane. The novel’s real strength lies in its ability to capture the messy contradictions of human connection: the way love and obligation intertwine, the ways we push and pull at each other in moments of grief. While Intermezzo is less overtly political than Rooney’s previous work, its emotional core feels sharper, its observations on loneliness and intimacy more finely tuned. Some readers might find the pacing deliberate, but the novel rewards patience, drawing you into its rhythm, making you feel the weight of every silence and unspoken thought.