Sally Rooney

Conversations with friends

The author of the book I chose is Sally Rooney. She is an Irish author and screenwriter. She has
published three novels: Conversations with Friends (2017), Normal People (2018), and Beautiful
World, Where Are You (2021). The first two were adapted into television miniseries.
The main setting is Dublin, Ireland in the early 2010s. The story centers around Frances, a 21-
year-old bisexual college student who has a close relationship with writing.
The novel follows the story of Frances and her best friend Bobbi(her ex girlfriend), who are
spoken-word poets in Dublin. The two befriend an older couple, Melissa and Nick (Melissa was
writing about them), which sets off a series of complex relationships and emotions. Frances,
who is intelligent but emotionally reserved, becomes entangled in a romantic relationship with
Nick, who is married to Melissa. As the characters navigate through their connections, the novel
explores themes of love, friendship, power dynamics, and self-discovery. The story is
characterized by its exploration of modern relationships and human emotions.
1.modern relationships (open relationship)
Open marriage is a form of non-monogamy in which the partners agree that each may engage
in extramarital sexual or romantic relationships. There are variant forms of open marriage such
as swinging and polyamory, each with the partners having varying levels of input into their
spouse's activities.
The characters in this novel practice polyamory, which is the practice of, or desire for, romantic
relationships with more than one partner at the same time, with the informed consent of all
partners involved.
Frances begins to like Nick, who is married to Mellisa. Nick cheats on Melissa with Frances, but
after a while she finds out and they start practicing "open marriage".
Many psychologists consider open marriages to be psychologically damaging. They claimed
sexual non-monogamy proves too difficult for most couples to manage, and their relationships
suffer as a consequence. This is also true for this novel because both melissa and Frances are
too jealous for an open relationship.
Polyamory has its roots in the late 1960s and 70s free-love movement in California and has
been popular ever since.
Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was
to separate the state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and
adultery.
Twenty percent of Americans — and Canadians — have at least tried an open relationship

2. Self harming
In the plot of the novel, it is evident that Frances self-harms because she does not know how to
deal with her problems, but her harm is portrayed as a pivotal moment in which Frances
realizes she may have gone too far.

Self-harm refers to when a person hurts their own body on purpose. It is more common
amongst women than men. A person who self-harms usually does not mean to kill themselves,
but they are at higher risk of attempting suicide and dying by suicide if they do not get help.
For many people, self-harm gives them a sense of relief and is used to cope with a problem.

About 5 percent of people have self-harmed at least once and that percentage increases over
time.

3. Frances has endometriosis – (disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows
outside the uterus. It can cause severe pain in the pelvis and make it harder to get pregnant.
Endometriosis can start at a person's first menstrual period and last until menopause.).
Depictions of the condition in literary fiction and TV dramas are rare. In fact, despite being
common, affecting around 10-15% of women of reproductive age and 30-50% of women in
general, endometriosis suffers from a severe lack of awareness in general.

4. The theme of the influence of alcohol on family relationships is also represented in this
novel. The main character's father is an alcoholic, which has a major influence on her mental
state. Because of this, she feels far from her father, but she is concerned about his condition.
Alcohol use is a common reason for destroying family and romantic relationships. Alcohol use is
one of the leading reasons couples' files for divorce in the United States. According to the
National Institute of Health, alcoholism and divorce statistics say that consuming alcohol
increases divorce rates by as much as 20%.

5. Social status
Frances came from a poorer background while Bobby had money. Frances often feels bad
because of this and as if she cannot talk to her about her financial status and problems because
she thinks that Bobby wouldn’t understand that.