Sally Rooney reveals why she hasn’t accepted any offers to adapt third novel into TV series

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Washington Bureau Chief

Sally Rooney has revealed why she’s not accepted any offers to adapt her third book into a television series.

The 33-year-old Irish writer, often dubbed the “voice of a generation”, has just finished her fourth novel Intermezzo, which follows the lives of two brothers as they navigate grief over the loss of their father in very different ways.

Her critically acclaimed books Normal People and Conversations with Friends were adapted into television series, with Rooney directly involved in production for the former. The show starring Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones went on to be a huge success, launching the careers of the protagonists and cultivating a cult following in the process.

But Rooney says she did not want the same for her third book, Beautiful World, Where Are You?

Asked if she had any plans for turning it into a series in the future, the writer told The New York Times, “No. So far I have decided not to accept any offers to option the rights for that book.

“I felt like it was just time to take a break from that and let the book be its own thing for a while.”

The author also explained why she had no regrets over her level of involvement in the adaptation of Conversations with Friends, which did not receive the same fanfare as Normal People.

“The reason that I chose not to be so involved in the second adaptation was because I was working on what became my third novel [Beautiful World, Where Are You].”

She continued, “The experience of working on the first one had been, in so many ways, amazing — the team of people involved in it. But it did also feel like a really big job. Then, when the show was broadcast, that felt like a lot in terms of the amount of discourse that it generated and the amount of media attention.

“I felt that world was not where I belonged. I felt like, ‘OK, now I know that my books are where I belong, and that’s all that I want to be doing’.”

Speaking to The Guardian, Rooney also said she was unprepared for the success of Normal People and does not have any desire to experience that kind of interest again.

“It felt to me like everyone in Britain and Ireland was talking about this television show, and it all kind of came from my head,” she said.

“[The attention] still felt like too much,” she continued. “I don’t want to be the centre of attention like that ever again.”