By Jesse Dolojan, Staff Writer 

Sally Rooney’s latest novel “Intermezzo” tackles themes of love and grief through the story of two brothers, Peter and Ivan, as they navigate life after the death of their father.

Peter Koubek, a 32-year-old lawyer in Dublin, is dating 22-year-old and college student Naomi after his longtime girlfriend Sylvia Larkin broke up with him after she got into an accident. However, Peter still maintains his feelings for Sylvia, leading to him juggle his love for both women in his life.

Ivan, a 22-year-old chess prodigy, dates 36-year-old art director Margaret. He meets her towards the start of the novel at one of his chess competitions, and they fall in love with each other soon after. 

Messy only begins to describe “Intermezzo,” which focuses on how the brothers’ grief has led them down paths both unknown and terrifying. As the novel progresses, it illustrates how much both brothers loved their father and how his death influences their actions. 

At the heart of Rooney’s newest work is the brothers’ relationships. The brothers’ hate and love for each other is evident throughout the story, reflecting the reality of many siblings. Their actions do not reflect their thoughts, however, as they hurt each other and regret their actions moments after. 

What stands out to me about “Intermezzo” is how Rooney differentiates the two brothers through their narration. Peter is older than Ivan, but she illustrates his thoughts as convoluted and overwhelming. She paints a picture of Peter’s mind by removing most paragraphs during hisnarrations, with some pages simply being walls of texts displaying Peter’s pure, unfiltered thoughts. 

Ivan is younger and much more idealistic compared to his jaded brother. He is absolutely in love with Margaret and does not care about the age gap between them. Some of his narration is the most emotional because he candidly reflects on his thoughts and regrets, often related to his father and brother. 

The final narrator is Margaret, Ivan’s 36-year-old girlfriend. She grapples the issues in her personal life; while she does love Ivan, she questions whether or not she is acting selfishly by being with him. She is also afraid of how people will view them if anyone sees them together. 

I loved the focus on the brothers and their strained relationship-reading their thoughts after their interactions, seeing how they cast their insecurities onto each other and understanding them through their narration are the most powerful portions of the novel. However, I wish other characters had more time in the book and that we learned about their thoughts as well.

There were also times where the novel dragged on, especially in the middle. I would have loved it if some of those parts were dedicated to Sylvia and Naomi. 

“Intermezzo” mainly focuses on the lives of the brothers, so we do not get a lot of details about other characters: Margaret’s personal life, Sylvia’s accident, or Naomi’s past, all of which are only hinted at throughout the novel. 

 That being said, this does not take away from how effective “Intermezzo” is as a story of grief and how people deal with it in life. We see with Peter that sometimes people are not happy with where they are and don’t always know how to solve their problems. With Ivan, we see someone with their future ahead of them, but who is afraid of going into that future alone. How Rooney tackles the brothers’ lives makes for a gripping story, and one I cannot recommend enough.