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Faber snaps up Sally Rooney's fourth novel, Intermezzo
Faber has snapped up Intermezzo, the fourth novel by Normal People author Sally Rooney, which booksellers predict will be one of the biggest novels of the year.
Publisher Alex Bowler acquired UK, Commonwealth and audio rights from Tracy Bohan at the Wylie Agency. Faber will publish the book in hardback, export trade paperback, e-book and audio on 24th September 2024. Moreover, Knopf will publish in Canada, while Farrar, Straus & Giroux will publish the book in the US.
"Aside from the fact that they are brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek seem to have little in common," the synopsis says. "Peter is a Dublin lawyer in his 30s – successful, competent and apparently unassailable. But in the wake of their father’s death, he’s medicating himself to sleep and struggling to manage his relationships with two very different women – his enduring first love Sylvia, and Naomi, a college student for whom life is one long joke."
The synopsis adds: "Ivan is a 22-year-old competitive chess player. He has always seen himself as socially awkward, a loner, the antithesis of his glib elder brother. Now, in the early weeks of his bereavement, Ivan meets Margaret, an older woman emerging from her own turbulent past, and their lives become rapidly and intensely intertwined.
"For two grieving brothers and the people they love, this is a new interlude – a period of desire, despair and possibility – a chance to find out how much one life might hold inside itself without breaking."
Bowler commented: "Intermezzo is a story of brothers and lovers, of familial and romantic intimacies, of relationships that don’t quite fit the conventional structures. After three miraculous books, Sally Rooney’s millions of readers will recognise the beauty and insight, the pain and hope that radiates from this new novel. But it marks an exquisite advance, too, in the work of a writer who seems so attuned to our lives, our hearts and our times."
Booksellers reacted positively to the news. Bea Carvalho, head of books at Waterstones, said: "In an exciting year for fiction the release of a fourth novel by Sally Rooney promises to be a stand out highlight. Few authors are as beloved among our booksellers: we were proud to name both Conversations with Friends and Normal People Books of the Month, with Normal People also being crowned Waterstones Book of the Year in 2018.
"We remember fondly launching Beautiful World, Where Are You in Waterstones Piccadilly with one of the first major bookshop book signings after the turbulent period of lockdowns and shop closures: a reminder of the joy to be found in the community of bookshops. We can’t wait to read Intermezzo and to work closely with Faber to continue this legacy and help it to reach readers far and wide."
Lynda Laffan, book buyer at Easons, said Intermezzo "will undoubtedly be the biggest novel of the year" while Olivia Rosenthall at Maldon Books, said booksellers love the way Rooney creates "unique and flawed characters that feel relatable". Rosenthall added: "Her books resonate with a wide audience, and we can’t wait to see the same anticipation and excitement for the new novel."
Rooney is the author of Conversations with Friends (Faber), Normal People and Beautiful World, Where Are You (Faber). Her work is translated into over 40 languages, and her first two novels have been adapted as television series for the BBC.
Rooney’s titles, including scripts, have sold just over 1.7 million copies for £13.9m via Nielsen BookScan TCM. Her bestseller is Normal People, with combined sales of 859,982 copies for £6.8m.
