Another proud distinction for highly-acclaimed Mayo author

Normal People, the critically acclaimed second novel by 28-year-old Mayo writer Sally Rooney, has been crowned Book of the Year at the British Book Awards.

The book, published by Faber & Faber, triumphed over formidable competition including Michelle Obama’s Becoming (Viking), which won two awards.

The Book of the Year judges – chaired by Alice O’Keeffe, books editor of The Booksellerdecided that Rooney’s novel, which charts the on-off relationship between two Irish students, was the most deserving winner of the top accolade in the “Baftas of the book trade”.

A native of Castlebar, Rooney said: “It’s an enormous privilege and an honour for me to receive the overall Book of the Year Award at the British Book Awards.

“I’ve received such enormous support and generosity from my own publisher, Faber & Faber, of course, and also from the bookselling community generally, from libraries and librarians, and the community of people who love books. It has been a really privileged experience for me, and I do feel astonishingly lucky.”

O’Keeffe said: “Beautifully observed and profoundly moving, Sally Rooney’s Normal People was unanimously praised by our Book of the Year judges. It really is an exceptional novel from one of the most exciting young writers we have. Beloved of reviewers, booksellers and readers, I’m thrilled that it is our Book of the Year.”

Fellow judge Stig Abell, editor of the TLS, said: “Sally Rooney may well be on her way to becoming the major literary figure of our time, a generational talent. This is a book that, five years from now and 50 years from now, we will still be reading. It is fantastically important.”

A daughter of Marie Farrell and Kieran Rooney, Newport Road, Castlebar, she is a past pupil of Scoil Raifteirí and St. Joseph's Secondary School, Castlebar.