Aside from the fact that they are brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek seem to have little in common.

Peter is a Dublin lawyer in his thirties—successful, competent, and apparently unassailable. But in the wake of their father’s death, he’s medicating himself to sleep and struggling to manage his relationships with two very different women—his enduring first love, Sylvia, and Naomi, a college student for whom life is one long joke.

Ivan is a twenty-two-year-old competitive chess player. He has always seen himself as socially awkward, a loner, the antithesis of his glib elder brother. Now, in the early weeks of his bereavement, Ivan meets Margaret, an older woman emerging from her own turbulent past, and their lives become rapidly and intensely intertwined.

For two grieving brothers and the people they love, this is a new interlude—a period of desire, despair, and possibility; a chance to find out how much one life might hold inside itself without breaking.

Sally Rooney is back! Like many of you, I’ve been obsessed with her writing since I first read Normal People. Her characters make me feel seen and understood and her stories delicately clarify parts of life that I so often find inexplicable. Intermezzo is no exception. This touching exploration of togetherness has everything I adore about Sally Rooney’s books, with a fresh twist! I think you’re gonna love it just as much as I did.

Peter and Ivan Koubek are brothers and polar opposites. Peter is an established lawyer in his thirties. Ivan is 22 and a geeky college grad who sports adult braces and a knack for chess. As Peter finds himself entranced with two romantic interests, Ivan falls deeply in love with an older woman. Clearly, the Koubek brothers’ lives are diverging—as is their relationship—but, after their father passes away, their shared grief initiates an inspired search for connection and meaning.

Curl up with Intermezzo and experience the pains of brotherhood and mourning alongside the joys of love and life. As usual, Sally Rooney pulls at your heartstrings until they break in this masterful new novel. Don’t worry, we can cry together…