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There Will Never Be Another Sally Rooney

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There Will Never Be Another Sally Rooney

As a literature enthusiast and ardent follower of the literary world, I find it fascinating to witness the phenomenon that Sally Rooney has ignited. Having read and admired her work myself, I can certainly understand the excitement her novels have sparked among readers worldwide. The way her stories resonate with so many people is truly remarkable, and it’s no wonder that publishers are keen on finding the “next Sally Rooney.

A while back, someone shared a picture of a man strolling in Brooklyn, casually carrying ‘Conversations With Friends’ by Sally Rooney concealed behind his pants. The book’s title subtly protruded above his waistband, signifying not just his taste in clothing, but also his personality. Not long before this, the literary critic Constance Grady wrote an article entitled “The Cult of Sally Roony,” suggesting that admiring Sally Rooney makes one appear intelligent yet playful, and cool enough to question ‘intelligence’ and ‘fun’ as broad ideas.

As a passionate cinephile, I can’t help but express my admiration for Rooney, the 33-year-old Irish novelist whose debut work burst onto the literary scene in 2017. With high-profile endorsements from Taylor Swift, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lena Dunham, and Emily Ratajkowski, she swiftly became a symbol of a unique cultural sensibility—a reflection of how young adults in the late 2010s channeled their profound uncertainties into acts of anti-capitalist performance and detached connections. Her first novel, titled Conversations With Friends, delved into the complexities of friendship and extramarital relationships, while her second novel, Normal People, published in the U.S. in 2019, traced how social class and misunderstandings disrupted a romantic relationship.

Rooney effectively encapsulated a particular atmosphere with both of her books. Her novels, including this year’s “Beautiful World, Where Are You”, have achieved remarkable sales figures, a rarity as most books sell fewer than 5,000 copies today. Both “Normal People” and “Conversations With Friends” have been successfully transformed into hit television series. Prior to the release of her fourth novel, “Intermezzo”, due out on September 24th, no less than 140 bookstores across the U.S. are planning launch parties – a privilege usually reserved for popular series featuring wizards, fairies, and vampires.

Publishing literary fiction is notoriously challenging, with one publisher estimating there are just 20,000 dedicated readers in the U.S. – a figure that seems to have taken Sally Rooney by surprise, given her unexpected success. Her debut novel, “Conversations With Friends,” was initially a sleeper hit, gaining traction mainly through word-of-mouth recommendations. The question on many lips is: Can the ‘Sally Rooney effect’ be replicated in the literary world?

Many supporters consider Rooney’s books as unique entities in their own right. Previously working at Faber & Faber U.K., Mitzi Angel, now president of Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, purchased “Conversations With Friends” in 2016. Upon reading the manuscript, Angel experienced a sense of familiarity, as if the book had already been written or was an eternal entity. The romantic tension between 21-year-old student Frances and 32-year-old actor Nick is not only a love affair but also raises moral dilemmas. Rooney excels at understanding and expressing societal nuances, according to Angel. Her work continually explores the agreements between individuals. This question of personal relationships is both an ethical and political issue.

As Europe’s leading college debater, Rooney found herself in a prime position to address young individuals who value both personal and political matters equally. In today’s publishing landscape, where novelists’ fame at their debut is increasingly crucial, Rooney’s academic background, representation by a prominent agency, and a deal with a renowned editor granted her an initial level of respect not typically given to emerging female authors. Often referred to as “the Salinger of the Snapchat generation,” this label has stuck with her for quite some time (and she is keen to move past it).

Rooney’s work flowed effortlessly among the influential creative community, eventually catching the eye of a global audience who can popularize and devour in large quantities the next big thing in movies, TV shows, and cultural works. This group may not be avid bookworms, but they have read books like “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” by Ottessa Moshfegh, “Detransition, Baby” by Torrey Peters, “Luster” by Raven Leilani, and most recently, “All Fours” by Miranda July. When these digitally-savvy cultural tastemakers encountered Rooney’s work, they were captivated. As literary agent Angeline Rodriguez explains, “She was one of the few who were taken seriously for writing about relationships, sex, and female anxiety, female body politics. Even then, she was often overlooked by traditional figures and, to be frank, men. But once she gained popularity, they had no choice but to take notice.

In most interviews, Rooney deliberately avoids the limelight and insists she’s just like everyone else. This down-to-earth attitude is what makes Rooney intriguing to fans, as if success for her doesn’t necessarily mean fame. As Becca Rothfeld put it in The Point, “Rooney strives hard to persuade us that she could be any one of us.” To many, this understated approach to celebrity lends Rooney an air of intelligence and mystery.

That cool-kid quality shows up in her characters, too. For young people exposed to neat Hollywood fantasies, filtered Instagram photos, and the choreographed scripts of pornography, the matter-of-factness with which Rooney writes about sex can make those situations feel radically mundane, similar to the effect of the messy sex depicted on Dunham’s GIRLS a decade ago. “People are clearly enjoying themselves,” Rodriguez says. Rooney writes about “sex being just something that happens between people, in a normal and positive way.” 

Rooney has been a prominent figure in a literary period that gives importance to desires and body politics, and some of her readers have also appreciated other works on this theme, including Lisa Taddeo’s 2019 best-selling book “Three Women” and Annie Ernaux’s accounts of her personal and sexual life over the years. These authors, together with Rooney, provide a female perspective that complements the surge in modern romance novels, as works by Emily Henry, Colleen Hoover, and Casey McQuiston continue to top best-seller lists and social media trends. In fact, “Normal People” is categorized as a romance novel at Target, but it’s the only book in that section you’d also find concealed in the pockets of men strolling through Brooklyn.

Since the success of “Conversations With Friends” ignited word-of-mouth buzz, publishers have been aiming to capitalize on the “Sally Rooney fanbase” for other authors. As an agent explained anonymously out of concern for professional repercussions, there was a surge of enthusiasm in discovering writers with similar styles, fostering a more literary era in many ways. Editors began acquiring novels written by introspective women and positioning them as Rooney-esque. Other publishers attempted, with varying degrees of success, to generate the same level of excitement; for instance, “Three Women” was promoted through an “anti-ghosting” campaign where women petitioned for free copies to be sent to men who were said to need to read it. When creating the brand identity for 831 Stories, a new romance novel publisher, co-founder Claire Mazur stated, “We definitely had the Sally Rooney reader in mind, and we hope to attract readers of literary fiction into the romance genre if they weren’t already interested.

In a review for the New York Review of Books, author Namwali Serpell noted at least nine novels published between 2020 and 2023, such as “Exciting Times” by Naoise Dolan and “A Very Nice Girl” by Imogen Crimp, which seemed to echo the themes and storylines found in Sally Rooney’s early works. These books were being written even before Rooney gained prominence, reflecting shared cultural trends independently. However, they were repeatedly compared, leading to a categorization as a distinct literary style during this period, according to Serpell. She coined the term “remaster novels” for these stories that explore power imbalances in relationships between young women and present them with a predicament that ultimately benefits them. Despite their success, none of them reached the cultural impact level of Rooney’s “Conversations.

The agent, who chose to remain anonymous, shares that for a period, the publishing industry was focusing on finding the next Sally Rooney, but this trend has largely diminished. Rooney became a strong brand, yet she didn’t serve as a predictor of a new direction for the industry. Authors such as Hoover and Henry have built substantial reader bases with purchasing power in the romance genre, Twilight triggered a series of vampire novels, and The Fault in Our Stars initiated “sick lit”. However, Rooney’s sales haven’t seemed to influence contemporary literary books in any discernible way. So, where did her readership shift its attention?

According to literary agent Monika Woods, readers are drawn towards works similar to those penned by Jane Austen and other celebrated female authors of the past. In her view, Sally Rooney’s writing style is reminiscent of timeless classics, which explains why they seem to be reaching back into history rather than striving for modernity.

Despite moving on to other literary works in the meantime, Rooney’s fans are eagerly waiting for another book from her, as there seems to be no immediate successor to her style. The upcoming novel “Intermezzo” is generating a lot of buzz, not just among readers but also industry insiders whose careers revolve around book sales. Mikaela Dery, director of programming at the New York City bookstore chain McNally Jackson, describes it as a rare occurrence for a book to spark such excitement among booksellers as well as the general public. The launch party for “Intermezzo” will feature a chess workshop and a “chat with new friends” cocktail hour.

Regardless of whether there’s only one “Rooney,” her achievements underscore the importance of publishers taking a genuine interest in new authors like hers, as demonstrated by Angel. In essence, Rooney and comparable trendsetters such as Moshfegh were considered risky ventures, but they proved to be profitable because readers deeply appreciated their writing and perspectives.

If another writer can tap into the influence that has surrounded Rooney since the start, it’s likely that this new author’s work will differ significantly from Rooney’s. As Rodriguez puts it: “The one who truly takes over – ‘the next Rooney’ – must seize their own time and moment.

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2024-09-19 16:09

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