The differences between Hulu’s Normal People and Sally Rooney’s book

Hulu’s Normal People is exquisite. 

The scripting, the casting, the attention to detail — as far as adaptations go, is a book lover’s dream. With lines pulled straight from the page and iconic moments recreated perfectly, Sally Rooney fans couldn’t have asked for a more loyal retelling of the love story that broke our hearts. To paraphrase Connell himself, “I’m not a religious person, but I do sometimes think God made you this 12-part limited series for me.”

That said, what kind of bookworms would we be if we weren’t diligently clocking all the differences between the series and novel for some post-binging analysis? 

Luckily, we came prepared. For your re-reading and re-watching reference, here are 7 of the biggest changes between Hulu’s Normal People and Rooney’s novel, listed in no particular order.

1. We see a lot more of Marianne and Connell in secondary school

In both the book and series, Normal People begins by introducing Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell (Paul Mescal) as peers in secondary school — but just how much of that school life you get to see depends on the version you’re enjoying. As Rooney tells it, most of Marianne and Connell’s school life is relayed through private moments at the Sheridan residence. Descriptions of the pair’s interactions and inner thoughts relay most of what we know about their secret relationship and how their classmates may or may not perceive it. 

The series, however, takes more of a “show don’t tell” approach, bringing us along for a number of hallway and classroom scenes that paint a vivid portrait of Marianne’s pariah status at school. We also get a better sense of what the pair’s unspoken dynamic looked like in a public setting, with bashful glances and flirty smirks aplenty.

Oh, and that emotional scene where Connell calls Marianne from the Debs and pours his heart out in a voicemail saying he made a mistake? Yeah, doesn’t happen in the book. Sure, he calls her. We’re just not privy to what he says.

2. Marianne’s home life is less overtly abusive

Believe it or not, Marianne’s family is more blatantly toxic in the book. In Hulu’s telling, the physical abuse Marianne alludes to her mother (Aislín McGuckin) experiencing at the hands of her late father never extended to her. In the book, Marianne specifically details the opposite.

Furthermore, the adaptation significantly softens the dynamic of the Sheridan family prior to Marianne and Alan’s (Frank Blake) episode 11 altercation. Denise is still cold, but comes off as more stuck between Alan’s aggression and Marianne’s vulnerability. And Alan, while still a spiteful prick who can go straight to hell, is portrayed as less physically threatening. That scene where he wrings a dish rag out on Marianne’s head? In the novel, he spits in her face. 

3. Peggy’s significance is severely undercut

If you’ve only seen the show, there’s a solid chance you’re not entirely sure who Peggy (India Mullen) even is. Marianne’s frenemy, recognizable in the series for her spectacular accessories and white-blond hair, plays a much bigger role in the book, representing Marianne’s tendency to seek out toxic friendships. In the series, we only get a few scenes of the pair’s slippery dynamic.

Of course, creators couldn’t include everything and they had to make concessions for the details they deemed more critical. Unfortunately, in whittling down Peggy’s role, Hulu’s Normal People misses out on a chance to examine another facet of Marianne’s lacking self-worth.

That said, the actress who played Peggy deserves major praise for what she did pull off with her screen time. Mullen manages to make Peggy immensely unlikable, and the scene where Connell tells her to “fuck off” is more satisfying for it. Plus, we get more time with gem Joanna (Eliot Salt).

4. Marianne and Lukas’ breakup shifts motivations

All three of Marianne’s boyfriends who aren’t Connell — Gareth (Sebastian de Souza), Jamie (Fionn O’Shea), and Lukas (Lancelot Ncube) — are more fleshed out in the series than in the book. We get a better sense of their respective attractions to Marianne and understand more completely why she was drawn to them. But there’s one substantial change in Lukas and Marianne’s dynamic that alters her characterization substantially. 

When Marianne and Lukas part ways in the show, Marianne is tied up on the floor for a BDSM session. Partway through, she becomes uncomfortable and tells Lukas she doesn’t want to participate anymore. Quietly, she collects her things and the two split.

In the book, things go quite differently. Rather than being uncomfortable with the specifics of their sexual play, Marianne is outraged when Lukas tells her he loves her during a session. She demands to be untied and soon storms out. Rooney’s version offers a telling glimpse into Marianne’s harmful understanding of intimacy and makes Lukas a more sympathetic character.

5. Connell and Helen’s breakup gains significance

Poor, poor Helen. Connell’s charming med student girlfriend (Aoife Hinds) gets the short end of the stick no matter which version of Normal People you’re digesting — but her extended breakup scene in Hulu’s take is especially hard to endure.

At Rob’s funeral, book Helen endures much of the same mistreatment as Hulu Helen. However, in the aftermath, Helen fades into the background with a simple line announcing that she and Connell had split. In the TV series, we witness Helen attempt to understand Connell’s behavior towards her, asking him repeatedly about the intricacies of their failed romance. 

It’s a weighty moment that further humanizes the peripheral characters in Marianne and Connell’s lives, making the end result of their split all the more devastating.

6. Miss Neary is basically nowhere to be seen 

Did you catch Connell hooking up with his grade school teacher in the club? Yep. That happened. The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in the series involves Connell making out with Miss Neary (Liz Fitzgibbon), the woman who asked him to hand out papers in class during episode 2, when the pair clandestinely meet on the dance floor. 

In the book, it’s more complicated than that. Connell visits Miss Neary’s house while living in Sligo and is pushed into a nonconsensual encounter that Marianne later finds out about. Marianne ultimately declares she’ll kill Miss Neary if she ever goes near Connell again — a sentiment later echoed by Connell when he confronts Alan. 

Though not an essential component of Connell and Marianne’s journey, this event provides a solid counterargument to the damsel in distress vibes evoked by Marianne’s fight with Alan, placing the romantic pair on appropriately even footing. What’s more, the moment stands as a critical point of male-centric representation in mutual consent.

7. The ending is clearer (and consequently, even more frustrating) 

The most significant change in Hulu’s Normal People comes in the finale. 

While the series doesn’t explicitly rewrite much that happens in the novel’s final chapter, it does expand upon it with reckless abandon — taking an appropriately ambiguous ending and giving it a maddeningly fixed conclusion. 

The literary romance of Connell and Marianne ends (or does it??) seemingly out of nowhere. In a single conversation, Connell reveals he has applied to an MFA program in New York and has gotten in. Simple as that, Mariannes tells him to go. Whether he actually leaves her is up to the reader’s interpretation, leaving a sliver of hope that somewhere out there these sexy morons made it work.

Hulu’s rendition allows Connell and Marianne to discuss the matter over a number of weeks, and culminates in the two of them discussing the specifics of what should happen when he leaves. It’s a much firmer conclusion to their connection that leaves little room for dreaming. The pair have split, and we have to cope with emotional carnage that comes with that. On the one hand, it’s a tragedy. On the other, it’s what we all knew in our hearts — our positively shattered hearts.

Normal People is now streaming on Hulu.