Search icon

Entertainment

18th May 2020

This short story tells what happens to Connell and Marianne after Normal People

Sarah Finnan

Normal People

Normal People this, Sally Rooney that – the world is obsessed. As am I.

With the TV adaptation taking the country by storm, most everyone is aware that the series is based on a Sally Rooney novel of the same name. However, what people may not know is that the novel originally began as a short story. Published back in 2016, Connell and Marianne first came to be in At the Clinic – a short story that appeared in the UK-based journal The White Review.

Both in their early twenties, the story sees Connell drive Marianne to the dentist to have her tooth removed. Charged full of the same characteristic chemistry the subsequent novel has come to be known for, Rooney was so taken with the characters that she couldn’t leave their story there and according to an interview in the New Statesman, the Irish-born author is quoted as saying:

“I kept wanting to write about these characters who were in their early twenties and their relationship had this texture to it because of their history. Eventually, I thought, what if I just went back and just told their story from the beginning, chronologically.”

Which resulted in Normal People.

Of course, people have since devoured anything the young writer has produced including her debut novel Conversations With Friends (also set to become a 12-part series), but there’s one question that remains on the tip of readers’ tongues… that being what happens to Connell and Marianne?

Presumably, you’ve made your way through the book, series and every video interview Paul Mescal has ever done by now but if you haven’t then best bookmark this for when you have as it contains major spoilers… the kind of spoilers that answer the above question, telling you what becomes of Connell and Marianne and whether they end up together. Need to know information in other words.

Detailing their post-graduation lives, the story tells of the twosome’s romantic pursuits hinting that not much has changed and they are still very much in love with each other. Prepare your fragile heart and read it here.

Need inspiration for staying at home? Sign up to our Lovin Home Comforts newsletter here.

READ NEXT: Normal People director to appear on Home School Hub this week

Topics: