Author Sally Rooney.
Photo: Richard Saker / Shutterstock
Sally Rooney’s new alert: In September, we are finally getting a new book from the Irish writer whose two previous novels – both set in Ireland, both featuring tortured relationships and many communication problems – were indisputable. The next book, entitled Beautiful world, where are you, will be published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
And you will never guess what it is about. According to New York Times, takes place in Dublin and focuses on four characters (“a novelist named Alice, her best friend Eileen and their respective love interests, Felix and Simon”) and her attempts to balance her love and professional life. But they are also, as FSG publisher Mitzi Angel told the Times, “Contemplating a world in which the future is very uncertain for them – what the world of work will be like, what will happen to the planet, what are the policies we all live in”.
Sound familiar? Yes, maybe a little, and we approve. Give us another book with sullen characters who find themselves in complicated romantic relationships, against the backdrop of gloomy Ireland in late capitalism. Force us to reexamine how the dynamics of power work in our own interpersonal relationships. Make us feel a cocktail of disconcerting emotions, with an emphasis on emotional distress and lust.
Another exciting detail, from Times report: Beautiful world, where are you it’s just the first of a two-book contract that Angel acquired from the Wylie Agency, which means we’re sure to have a new fourth Sally Rooney at some point. Although we know nothing about this second book, and FSG has refused to offer any details, we have a vague idea of its themes.