Beautiful World, Where Are You: Rooney widens her horizons with mesmeric meditation on the modern world

The bestselling Irish author’s third novel has broader concerns than her previous outings, but succeeds on its own terms nonetheless

Sally Rooney once again exhibits what makes her so brilliant: her conviction in writing seriously about pleasure and her divining of emotional truths through clear-eyed language. Picture: Fergal Phillips

FICTION

Beautiful World, Where Are You

By Sally Rooney

Faber, €15.99

The title of Sally Rooney’s third novel is positively ornate compared to her previous works, the more economically monickered Conversations With Friends and Normal People. It’s lengthy, wordy, and presents the book’s central theme as a question. This “beautiful world” is a familiar one, wrought with the kind of relationships that Rooney’s myriad fans loved from her first two outings.

The story follows Eileen, ...