Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
Here, Rooney’s eye for interpersonal relationships is turned to two brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek, who aren’t very much alike. Peter fits every bit of the confident and successful attorney stereotype there is—until his father dies, and he starts self-medicating to get to sleep. And, now his relationships with two different women—one his age and one in college—are starting to falter, too. Then there’s his younger brother, Ivan, who is a competitive chess player, and who has never been all that social. Since their father died, his life has changed, too, and he finds himself becoming more and more involved with an older woman. —Erica Ezeifedi
