Sally Rooney’s fourth novel is about two Irish brothers, 32-year-old Peter Koubek, a Dublin lawyer, and 22-year-old Ivan, a chess prodigy, and their troubled relationships with each other and the women in their lives. After their mother moved in with another man when Ivan was small, they were raised mainly by their father, an engineer who immigrated to Ireland in the 1980s from Slovakia. We meet them soon after their father’s death following years battling cancer. Both brothers, at loose ends, are struggling with the question, “Under what conditions is life endurable?” The simple answer, consistent throughout Rooney’s work, is that what makes life not just endurable but rich and meaningful is connecting with others, romantically and platonically, through deep conversations and love, which is easier said than done. Her novels take us down long and winding roads in search of often elusive fulfillment. The narrative of “Intermezzo,” in which Rooney continually rearranges her characters like pieces on a chessboard, features many game-changing surprise moves. It wouldn’t be a Rooney novel without romantic entanglements. Peter’s are complicated. For months, he has been involved in a relationship with Naomi, a university student who supports herself with occasional sex work. He’s fond of her, but is haunted by his abiding love for his college girlfriend Sylvia Larkin. Sylvia broke up with him six years earlier after a debilitating accident. Peter has never gotten over her, which makes him feel guilty about leading Naomi on. Ivan is as socially awkward and reticent as his brother is dominant and ambitious. Despite a degree in theoretical physics, he barely supports himself, taking on just enough freelance data analysis work to enable him to focus on competitive chess. Margaret, 14 years Ivan’s senior, is guiltily separated from her alcoholic husband. The tentative but intense connection that unfolds between these two sidelined people is one of the great pleasures of this novel. | 