In the present essay I am going to analyse a section drawn from the chapter Seven Months Later (February 2015) of Sally Rooney’s novel Normal People. In particular, I am going to consider the narrative strategies adopted by the writer and some connections with other texts.

First of all, after reading it can be said that the writer used an external third person narrator who speaks from Marianne's point of view.  The section starts describing Marianne preparing an instant coffee; however, the attention is immediately focused on the outside setting that suggests bad weather condition: it is going to rain. Marianne, who is near the window, hides the view with the mist of her breath.Therefore, the outside is not clear because her breath creates a sort of barrier on the window glass. The introduction of the chapter is significant because makes the reader reflect about another novel, a modernist text written by James Joyce: Eveline. As a matter of fact, both the sections start with the female protagonist in their houses. In Eveline, the writer focuses the attention of the reader on the character, while it highlights the distance between Eveline and the outside world. This is because Eveline is scared about the outside. While in Rooney’s novel, the attention is focused on the setting and the relation between the external world and Marianne. Moreover, the external world is perceived in a much more positive way comparing with Eveline. At the middle of the page, there is a turning point, the narrator asserts: People have forgotten about her. She’s normal people now. The temporal adverb now, in key position, suggests a change in Marianne’s life. People now do not consider her as strange and different like in the past. Now she passes unnoticed from people. This makes her normal and this aspect is reinforced by the description of her ordinary routine at work.