Conversations With Friends and Normal People spoilers ahead.
With Conversations With Friends finally coming to our screens, the natural comparison to Normal People has been speculated on for months.
Both books are created by author Sally Rooney, and the creative team behind both TV adaptations have been essentially the same as well – including director Lenny Abrahamson, and their intimacy co-ordinator, Ita O'Brien.
But for those uninitiated to the books it may seem they're connected in story.
Ahead of the show's production, Abrahamson told the Radio Times:"We've described it as a kind of cousin to Normal People.
"It's still within that sort of… you can feel Sally's writing obviously, and there are similarities in how I'll approach this, although there are also differences. It's also 12 half-hour episodes [like Normal People], so there is some kind of continuity."
Are Conversations With Friends and Normal People connected?
In terms of the story, sadly no, not really. However, there are a couple of lines in the books that leave this up for debate.
Normal People (for those who missed the absolute juggernaut of a TV adaptation in 2020) tells the story of teenage sweethearts Connell Waldron and Marianne Sheridan, and their complicated relationship as they navigate their teen years, college and beyond.
Ultimately, they decide to part ways when Connell is afforded the opportunity to go and study in New York, but remain on good terms with their future uncertain.
In the novel Conversations With Friends – which, should be noted, was released before Normal People – Frances mentions a friend has just returned from Brooklyn. Her name? Marianne.
While this could certainly be a coincidence, another similarity is that the Conversations Marianne celebrates her birthday in December (at least according to Frances)... another similarity to Normal People's Marianne.
So there was at least some hope that this passing friend of one of Conversations lead characters would make an appearance, giving us even the most minor of updates to where we last saw her and Connell.
Conversations With Friends is available in full now on BBC iPlayer in the UK and Hulu in the US. Normal People is available to stream on BBC iPlayer in the UK, Hulu in the US, or to download and keep.
![Normal People [DVD] [2020]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1613734720-41O0mskWH4L.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Normal People [DVD] [2020]")
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