By now I’m sure you’ve all heard the news that the beloved Irish author Sally Rooney’s third novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You, will be released later this year. But September is an awfully long time to wait, which begs the question: what should I read in the meantime?
Reader, it’s your lucky day.
Over the last few years, we’ve become accustomed to seeing the following phrase sitting in the blurb of many new books: ‘*Insert Author Here* is the new Sally Rooney.’ Or its most common variant, ‘For fans of Sally Rooney’s Normal People.’ Publishing loves nothing more than a trend and I fully understand the impulse to use one author’s name and fame to try and send another skyrocketing up the bestseller charts. Luckily, many of the books that have been compared to this famous Irish author are actually excellent in their own right, and so I’ve gathered together six of them to tide you over until the release of Beautiful World, Where Are You. Read on!
Sorrow and Bliss
by Meg Mason
The blurb of this book declares that it’s perfect for ‘fans of Sally Rooney, Taffy Brodesser-Akner and Fleabag.’ Quite the eclectic mix of high-profile comparisons there, though I do think Sorrow and Bliss leans more Fleabag than Rooney. Nevertheless, it was one of my favourite reads of 2020 and I think it will do nicely with fans of Sally Rooney.
Buy it here
Exciting Times
by Naoise Dolan
This is actually the closest book I’ve found to Rooney’s particular novelistic blend of politics, sex and wry Irish humour – I loved it. This book is acerbic and biting with its humour, closer in nature to Conversations With Friends than Normal People, and it was another highlight of 2020 for me.
Buy it here
Such a Fun Age
by Kiley Reid
Pandora Sykes declared that Such a Fun Age, the debut novel of American author Kiley Reid, would go on to have the same impact as Sally Rooney. Given that this book was also longlisted for the Booker Prize and has garnered high praise from thousands of readers, including yours truly, I think she may be right.
Buy it here
Expectation
by Anna Hope
This quiet and contemplative novel about three women friends growing into adulthood brings to mind all of the gorgeous introspection of Normal People, even if the style of both authors is quite different.
Buy it here
A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing
by Jessie Tu
Jessie Tu made plenty of waves with her debut novel, which follows the sexual encounters of a former violinist prodigy named Jena. This is quite a confronting book, but the boldness of Tu’s prose is certainly reminiscent of Sally Rooney, and she’s found many an Australian fan (including writers such as Bri Lee).
Buy it here
Cherry Beach
by Laura McPhee-Browne
This novel exploring the intricacies of friendship and desire between two best friends became something of an Australian literary darling last year. I’m yet to read it, but I’ve been reliably informed by several other Booktopians that it more than warrants the love.
Buy it here
—Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney (Allen & Unwin Australia) will be released on the 7th of September.
Beautiful World, Where Are You
Alice, a novelist, meets Felix, who works in a distribution warehouse, and asks him if he'd like to travel to Rome with her. In Dublin, her best friend Eileen is getting over a break-up, and slips back into flirting with Simon, a man she has known since childhood.
Alice, Felix, Eileen and Simon are still young-but life is catching up with them. They desire each other, they delude each other, they get together, they break apart. They have sex, they worry about sex, they worry about their friendships and the world they live in. Are they standing in the last...
About the Contributor
Olivia Fricot
Olivia Fricot (she/her) is Booktopia's Senior Content Producer and editor of the Booktopian blog. She has too many plants and not enough bookshelves, and you can usually find her reading, baking, or talking to said plants. She is pro-Oxford comma.
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