Connell's mother is Marianne's mother's housekeeper. At school, the two pretend not to know each other, but in private, they develop an intense, uncategorizable relationship that extends past high school and through their college years.

What's there to say about NORMAL PEOPLE that hasn't already been said? It's an intensely frustrating book, but one I could not turn away from. Connell and Marianne both repeatedly made choices that were bad for themselves and the other person, and yet I wanted them to be together, fully. If they'd just had a real conversation - talked about their class differences, talked about their emotional traumas, talked about when they did and did not have feelings for each other - instead they talked around these things, making me want to shout, "go to couples therapy!"

Regardless, I loved how intricate their relationship was - layers on layers of years of knowing each other. They felt like real people trying to blindly find their way through life without real support networks. I also loved Connell's relationship with his mother, Lorraine. So rarely do we see male characters have one, let alone multiple complex relationships with women!

I get that all these things are also precisely the reasons why many people don't like this book. Somehow, though, it all clicked right into place for me.