Intermezzo (Hb) - Hardback is a moving literary novel about grief, love, and family. Set in Dublin, it follows two brothers, Peter and Ivan, as they navigate the wake of their father’s death and the relationships that form around them. Aimed at adult readers who relish intimate, character‑driven fiction, Intermezzo carries a compassionate, hopeful, and searching tone.

Intermezzo unfolds through close, observant storytelling that alternates between Peter’s measured, professional world and Ivan’s more improvisational, aching journey. Rooney’s precise, lucid prose gives weight to small moments—a difficult conversation, a quiet gesture, a late‑night reflection—so the emotional work of grief feels intimate and universal. The book’s structure—two brothers, layered relationships, and a city that feels alive—lets readers feel the pull of different paths and the fragile possibilities that emerge when a family faces loss.

Across their stories, Sylvia, a first love who left a lasting imprint; Naomi, a bright student drawn into the family’s orbit; and Margaret, an older woman with a past of her own, enter the scene and reshape what each life might hold. The pace is calm, the mood patient, but the consequences are meaningful. Intermezzo offers a humane, rewarding journey that celebrates resilience, tenderness, and the way love can expand the meaning of a life even in sorrow.

• Dual perspectives of Peter and Ivan, navigating grief and family
• Interwoven relationships with Sylvia, Naomi, and Margaret
• Contemporary Dublin setting with keen social observation
• Clear, precise prose and restrained, insightful dialogue
• Themes of memory, longing, loss, and renewal
• Musical, interludes‑like pacing that invites reflection

Reading Intermezzo leaves you with a renewed sense of how family endures, how love can bend memory toward possibility, and how even in interludes there can be warmth, growth, and a path forward.