She’s been described as the Jane Austen of her generation. At 33, with her first three novels, *Conversations With Friends*, *Normal People* and *Beautiful World, Where Are You*, Irish author Sally Rooney has become a publishing sensation, translated into almost 40 languages. For the global release of her fourth novel, *Intermezzo*, the writer gives *Le Monde* her only interview in France.
Le Monde: Intermezzo tells the story of two brothers, Ivan and Peter, just after their father’s funeral. Ivan, 22, is a talented chess player, while Peter, 32, is a lawyer, and they seem to have little in common. Although love is one of your main themes, you’ve never before written about love and hate in the context of brotherhood (moreover, in relation to the loss of a father). What drew you to this theme?
Rooney: There was no conscious decision-making involved in writing about these characters. I did not sit down with the intention of “tackling a theme” or “exploring the topic of brotherhood” or anything like that at all. One day several years ago, I had an idea for a story about a chess player visiting a small rural arts center to play a simultaneous exhibition game. I started to write that story and, in the course of getting to know its characters, I eventually realized that the chess player had an elder brother. Then I began writing about the brother character, and the people in his life, and the novel developed from there. At no point did I think to myself “I have something to say about brotherhood.” I don’t have anything to say about anything in particular in my novels. I just want to bring my characters to life for the reader, the way they have come to life for me.
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She’s been described as the Jane Austen of her generation. At 33, with her first three novels, *Conversations With Friends*, *Normal People* and *Beautiful World, Where Are You*, Irish author Sally Rooney has become a publishing sensation, translated into almost 40 languages. For the global release of her fourth novel, *Intermezzo*, the writer gives *Le Monde* her only interview in France.
Le Monde: Intermezzo tells the story of two brothers, Ivan and Peter, just after their father’s funeral. Ivan, 22, is a talented chess player, while Peter, 32, is a lawyer, and they seem to have little in common. Although love is one of your main themes, you’ve never before written about love and hate in the context of brotherhood (moreover, in relation to the loss of a father). What drew you to this theme?
Rooney: There was no conscious decision-making involved in writing about these characters. I did not sit down with the intention of “tackling a theme” or “exploring the topic of brotherhood” or anything like that at all. One day several years ago, I had an idea for a story about a chess player visiting a small rural arts center to play a simultaneous exhibition game. I started to write that story and, in the course of getting to know its characters, I eventually realized that the chess player had an elder brother. Then I began writing about the brother character, and the people in his life, and the novel developed from there. At no point did I think to myself “I have something to say about brotherhood.” I don’t have anything to say about anything in particular in my novels. I just want to bring my characters to life for the reader, the way they have come to life for me.
**Read the full interview here:** [**https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/09/24/sally-rooney-the-work-of-writing-is-so-much-more-fulfilling-for-me-than-the-existence-of-the-finished-book_6727109_30.html**](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/09/24/sally-rooney-the-work-of-writing-is-so-much-more-fulfilling-for-me-than-the-existence-of-the-finished-book_6727109_30.html)