21 Authors Like Sally Rooney: Direct, Approachable Writers Who Capture Modern Life

Check out our list of the top authors like Sally Rooney. If you appreciate Rooney’s direct, approachable writing style, you’ll love the books by these authors.

Sally Rooney is an Irish author who has published several internationally acclaimed bestsellers. Rooney was born in Castlebar and spent a short time in Dublin and New York City before returning to the city where she grew up. As a young woman, she studied at Trinity College Dublin before focusing on developing her writing style and becoming a successful writer.

Rooney started writing as a teenager and submitted two poems to The Stinging Fly, which were accepted for publication. Writing nearly constantly, she completed Conversations with Friends, her first novel, in grad school. The book was published in 2017. This was followed by Normal People in 2018, winning several awards, including the Irish Novel of the Year from the Irish Book Award.

Her most recent book, Beautiful World, Where Are You, was published in 2021. Rooney’s books are known for their deadpan approach to studying everyday life in a relatable way.

Why Sally Rooney’s Style Resonates in 2025

Sally Rooney’s literary approach has proven remarkably prescient and increasingly relevant in today’s cultural landscape. Several key elements make her work particularly significant for contemporary readers:

Digital Age Authenticity: Rooney’s sparse, direct prose mirrors how people actually communicate in the age of text messages, social media, and digital relationships. Her dialogue feels authentic because it reflects how millennials and Gen Z actually speak—economical, precise, often emotionally guarded.

Millennial and Gen Z Experience: Rooney captures the specific anxieties of young adults navigating economic uncertainty, relationship ambiguity, and social media pressure. Her characters deal with precarious employment, complex friendships that blur into romance, and the challenge of forming authentic connections in an increasingly mediated world.

Emotional Intelligence Without Sentiment: Her work demonstrates sophisticated emotional awareness while avoiding sentimentality. Characters analyze their feelings and relationships with almost clinical precision, reflecting a generation raised on therapy culture and psychological awareness.

Class Consciousness: Rooney weaves economic and social class considerations into personal relationships naturally, addressing how money, education, and family background shape romantic and friendship dynamics—particularly relevant as wealth inequality continues to grow.

Relationship Complexity: Rather than traditional romantic narratives, Rooney explores the messy reality of modern relationships—friends who sleep together, on-and-off partnerships, and the difficulty of defining what relationships mean in an era of decreased social expectations.

Political Awareness: Her characters exist within political reality without being overtly political novels. This reflects how younger generations experience politics as inseparable from personal life, particularly regarding climate change, economic inequality, and social justice.

If you like this writing style, check out these top authors like Sally Rooney for your next read.

For more recommendations, you might also enjoy exploring authors like Harlan Coben, authors like Gillian Flynn, best detective novel series.

Must-Read Authors like Sally Rooney

1. Elif Batuman, 1977 -

Elif Batuman was born in New York City and grew up in New Jersey. She started writing novels after graduating from Harvard and getting her doctorate from Stanford. Batuman published The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them, her first book in 2010. The Idiot, her first novel, came to print in 2017 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The novel was a coming-of-age story about Selin, a character whose life modeled Elif’s quite a bit. Either/Or the sequel to that novel was published in 2022.

Why Rooney fans will love her: Batuman shares Rooney’s gift for capturing the awkwardness and uncertainty of young adulthood with precise, often humor-tinged prose. Both authors excel at depicting the confusion of academic life and early relationships without romanticizing the experience.

Academic authenticity: Like Rooney’s Trinity College background, Batuman’s Harvard/Stanford credentials inform authentic portrayals of university life, intellectual pretension, and the gap between academic theory and lived experience.

“It was the golden time of year. Every day the leaves grew brighter, the air sharper, the grass more brilliant. The sunsets seemed to expand and melt and stretch for hours, and the brick façades glowed pink, and everything got bluer. How many perfect autumns did a person get?” —Elif Batuman, Either/Or

2. Belinda McKeon, 1979 -

Belinda McKeon is an Irish author who has two novels to her name. Before she started her writing career, Belinda attended Trinity College and University College in Dublin, and in 2005, she moved to New York City to get her graduate degree from Columbia. In her debut novel, Solace, which she published in 2011, she tells a story of the relationship between a father and son who must face tragedy and loss together while building their relationship. This book won the 2011 Faber Prize and was voted Irish Book of the Year. In 2016, she published Tender, her second novel.

Irish literary connection: McKeon’s shared Irish background with Rooney provides similar cultural contexts and sensibilities, particularly around family dynamics, Catholic influence, and small-town versus cosmopolitan tensions.

Emotional precision: Both authors excel at exploring complex family relationships and friendships with emotional honesty that avoids melodrama while acknowledging genuine pain and connection.

“He was the friend of my life. You know, you only have one friend like that; there can’t be two.” —Belinda McKeon, Tender

3. Alexandra Chang

A UC Berkeley and Syracuse University graduate, Alexandra Chang grew up in California before moving to New York with her husband. As a young woman, she started writing as a tech reporter for Wired, and she used her experiences as the source for her novel Days of Distraction. The book, published in 2020, follows a young staff writer for a tech company who digs into her Asian American heritage as she tries to discover who she is and how to find justice in society.

Tech industry insight: Chang’s tech journalism background provides authentic portrayals of contemporary work culture that complements Rooney’s keen eye for how modern employment shapes relationships and identity.

Identity exploration: Both authors approach questions of cultural identity and belonging with nuanced complexity, avoiding simple answers while acknowledging real cultural pressures and expectations.

“It is difficult to parse which parts of me come from my family, from being Chinese, from being Asian American, from being American, from being a woman, from being of a super generation, and from, simply, being.” —Alexandra Chang, Days of Distraction

4. Miranda Popkey, 1987 -

Born in Santa Cruz, Miranda Popkey has extensive experience writing for newspapers. After graduating from Yale, she attended Washington University for her master’s degree. As a reporter, she worked for The New Republic, Paris Review, and The New Yorker. In her debut novel, Topics of Conversation, she dips into fiction writing. The book explores 20 years of the life of an unnamed narrator who looks at themes of self-sabotage, feminism, envy, and anger.

Narrative innovation: Popkey’s experimental approach to structure and voice mirrors Rooney’s subtle innovations in narrative technique, particularly in how they handle dialogue and interior consciousness.

Feminist analysis: Both authors incorporate feminist perspectives naturally into their narratives without making them explicitly political novels, instead showing how gender dynamics affect everyday interactions.

“What I’m saying is that my life, like the lives of most people, lacks an origin story. I mean one with any explanatory power. Which means that my son could turn out any way and for any reason or for no reason at all.” —Miranda Popkey, Topics of Conversation

5. Emily Austin

Emily Austin is another new-to-the-scene author with a style similar to Sally Rooney. In her debut novel, Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead, she explores what happens when a closeted lesbian becomes a church secretary. Austin was born in Canada and attended King’s University College and Western University. In 2022, she was given a grant to write a second novel, which will be published soon.

LGBTQ+ perspective: Austin’s exploration of sexuality and identity complements Rooney’s nuanced approach to sexual and romantic fluidity, particularly in how both authors avoid making identity the sole focus while acknowledging its importance.

Dark humor: Both authors employ deadpan humor to address serious topics like mental health, identity, and social expectations without minimizing their significance.

“Of course, I’m a fraud. The fact that I’m able to carry myself through life without being crushed beneath the psychological weight of being alive proves that I’m a con artist. Aren’t we all con artists?” —Emily Austin, Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead

6. Naoise Dolan

Born in Dublin, Naoise Dolan is an Irish novelist who gained nearly instant fame when she published her first novel in 2020. After experiencing bullying in high school, she attended Trinity College and Oxford University. When she graduated, she moved to Singapore to take on work as an English language teacher, then moved to Hong Kong and spent some time in Italy and London. Exciting Times is her first novel, which she wrote in just five months. It tells the story of Ava, someone who moved to Hong Kong from Ireland just like Dolan, and her romance with a lawyer named Edith.

Irish Trinity connection: Dolan’s shared Irish background and Trinity College education creates immediate parallels with Rooney’s work, particularly in narrative voice and cultural sensibility.

International perspective: Both authors explore how young people navigate identity while living abroad, examining how distance from home affects self-understanding and relationships.

Contemporary romance: Dolan’s approach to modern relationships—particularly the complexity of bisexual identity and economic dependence—mirrors Rooney’s sophisticated handling of sexual and romantic ambiguity.

“I thought that if I let anyone in, they’d find out what was broken about me. And then not only would they know, I’d know too.” —Naoise Dolan, Exciting Times

7. Melissa Broder, 1979 -

Essayist and poet Melissa Broder also dip her hands into the world of novel writing. She was born and raised in Pennsylvania before attending Tufts University and then worked as an editor for a literary magazine throughout college. After graduation, she relocated to San Francisco and New York City, where she worked as a publicist. In 2016, she published So Sad Today, a collection of her essays that she pulled from her Twitter account. Next, she published The Pisces in 2018, followed by Milk Fed in 2021.

Social media authenticity: Broder’s background in Twitter-based writing aligns with Rooney’s understanding of how digital communication shapes contemporary voice and emotional expression.

Mental health honesty: Both authors address anxiety, depression, and mental health with frankness that feels contemporary and realistic rather than romanticized.

“Did anyone genuinely like anything? So much art was bad. I preferred the work of dead people. At least the dead weren’t on Twitter” —Melissa Broder, Milk Fed

8. Eliza Clark, 1994 -

A graduate of Chelsea College of Art, Eliza Clark is a new author from London, England. As a social media marketer, she has experience writing for Mslexia, a women’s creative writing magazine. In 2018, she earned a grant from the New Writing North’s Young Writers’ Talent Fund to publish a book. In 2020 she published Boy Parts, her first novel, followed by Penance in 2023. Clark’s podcast, You Just Don’t Get It, Do You?, pokes fun at the world of film and television.

Social media expertise: Clark’s professional background in social media marketing provides authentic insights into how digital platforms affect identity and relationships—crucial for understanding contemporary young adult experience.

Gender dynamics: Both authors explore toxic masculinity and female agency with sharp observation, particularly how women navigate power in relationships and professional settings.

“You want to think you’re not like other women, but you are, you know. You’re still… that’s still how the rest of the world, how men are going to see you. Like, I know you hate labels, but you like… You live in a woman’s body. You’re vulnerable. No matter what you think, you’re vulnerable…” —Eliza Clark, Boy Parts

9. Lily King, 1963 -

Award-winning author Lily King is an American novelist known for her independent female characters. King has five novels to her name, with the most recent, Writers & Lovers, hitting bookshelves in 2020. Five Tuesdays in Winter, her short story collection, was released in 2021. It was her 2014 book Euphoria that gained her acclaim, winning the Kirkus and New England Book Awards. The book was listed in TIME Magazine’s Top 10 Fiction Books of 2014 and the Best Book of 2014 on Amazon.

Writer’s life authenticity: King’s Writers & Lovers explores the reality of trying to make a living as a creative professional, touching on themes of economic uncertainty that resonate with Rooney’s class-conscious perspective.

Relationship complexity: Both authors excel at showing how past relationships and family dynamics shape present romantic choices, particularly the difficulty of establishing healthy patterns.

“You don’t realize how language actually interferes with communication until you don’t have it, how it gets in the way like an overdominant sense.” —Lily King, Euphoria

10. Coco Mellors

As a Londoner who moved to New York in her teens, Coco Mellors attended New York University, where she studied fiction, before moving to Los Angeles. Cleopatra and Frankenstein was her debut novel, which she published in 2022. Even though it is a newer work, it has been translated into 13 languages and was the Goodreads Choice award nominee for Best Fiction and Best Debut Novel that year. Mellors plans to release a second book, Blue Sisters, in 2023.

International perspective: Mellors’s transatlantic experience mirrors the global mobility that characterizes Rooney’s generation, particularly how young people navigate identity across different cultural contexts.

Relationship dynamics: Both authors explore how creative ambitions and economic pressures affect romantic relationships, particularly the challenge of maintaining authentic connections amid external stress.

“Fondness was the best word she could think of to describe what they felt for each other. Fondness was warm but not tepid, the color of amber, more affectionate than friendship but less complicated than love.” —Coco Mellors, Cleopatra and Frankenstein

11. Mona Awad, 1978 -

Canadian novelist Mona Awad grew up in Montreal and attended York University and Brown University. After graduation, she started writing short fiction and non-fiction works to publish in magazines, then took the pen name Veronica Hartley to write a column for Maisonneuve. In 2016, she published her first novel, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, which challenged body image concerns. Bunny, her second novel in 2019, won The Ladies of Horror Fiction Best Novel award and is in consideration for a motion picture.

Body image exploration: Awad’s frank discussion of body image and self-perception complements Rooney’s honest approach to how physical self-consciousness affects relationships and self-confidence.

Dark surrealism: While Rooney stays realistic, Awad’s occasional surreal elements provide an interesting contrast that appeals to readers who appreciate Rooney’s psychological insight but want more experimental approaches.

“The universe is against us, which makes sense. So we get another McFlurry and talk about how fat we are for a while.” —Mona Awad, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl

12. Mary Adkins

Mary Adkins graduated from Duke University and Yale Law School. Though she has a law degree, this Nashville native has found a niche in writing. With articles and stories published in the New York Times and the Atlantic, she teaches other authors how to write good stories. Adkins has three novels: Palm Beach, Privilege, and When You Read This.

Professional transition: Adkins’s shift from law to writing reflects the career uncertainty and professional pivoting that characterizes Rooney’s generation, particularly how traditional career paths no longer provide security.

Legal background: Her legal training brings precision to language and argument that complements Rooney’s economical prose style and careful attention to power dynamics.

“Everyone has regret, but that doesn’t mean the choices we made were mistakes, or that we even could have acted differently. It just means we look back and feel like we could have.” —Mary Adkins, When You Read This

13. Kiley Reid, 1987 -

American author Kiley Reid started her writing career in 2019 by publishing Such a Fun Age. The book was quite popular and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Born in Los Angeles, Reid was raised in Tucson and studied writing at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. In her first book, she looks at the interactions of a black babysitter and a white employer, touching on the challenges of racial tension. The book is a New York Times bestseller.

Racial dynamics: Reid’s exploration of race and class in contemporary America provides important perspective that complements Rooney’s class consciousness, particularly how economic relationships are shaped by racial assumptions.

Service economy reality: Both authors understand how service work and economic dependence affect personal relationships, particularly the difficulty of maintaining dignity in economically unequal situations.

“I don’t need you to be mad that it happened. I need you to be mad that it just like… happens.” —Kiley Reid, Such a Fun Age

14. Sylvia Plath, 1932 - 1963

American author Sylvia Plath is known for her confessional poetry and novels. Born in Boston, Plath was educated at Smith College, where she suffered a mental health breakdown that required professional therapy. After getting out of the hospital for depression treatment, she obtained a Fulbright Scholarship to Newnham College in England and continued writing there. Much of her writing deeply examines her struggles with mental health. The Bell Jar, her best-known fiction work, is a semi-autobiographical novel she published in 1963, the month before her death.

Mental health frankness: Plath’s honest approach to depression and anxiety provides historical context for how Rooney’s generation approaches mental health—with greater openness but similar struggles.

Academic pressure: Both authors explore how academic achievement and intellectual ambition can contribute to psychological pressure and relationship difficulties.

“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.” —Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

15. Kazuo Ishiguro, 1954 -

Japanese-British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro writes novels set in the past and sometimes weaves science fiction into them. Never Let Me Go is one of his most famous works, and he also earned accolades for When We Were Orphans, his 2000 novel. In 2017, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature for his contributions. Ishiguro was also named an Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd Class, Gold, and Silver Star by the government of Japan.

Subtle emotional complexity: Ishiguro’s masterful use of understated emotion and subtext provides a model for how Rooney achieves emotional depth through restraint rather than dramatic expression.

Memory and identity: Both authors explore how past experiences shape present identity, particularly the way childhood and adolescent relationships continue to influence adult behavior.

“Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don’t go along with that. The memories I value most, I don’t ever see them fading.” —Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go

16. Dolly Alderton, 1988 -

Dolly Alderton is The Sunday Times columnist who earned the 2018 National Book Award for her memoir Everything I Know About Love. Born in London, this British author was named Hannah but changed her name to Dolly as a teenager. Alderton studied drama and English at the University of Exeter, then went to City University for a master’s degree.

From 2015 to 2017, she was a columnist for The Sunday Times before publishing her book in 2018. After that, she started working on the Dear Dolly agony aunt column while publishing her first novel, Ghosts. The most recent book on her list is Dear Dolly, a collection of her essays for the newspaper column of the same name.

Female friendship focus: Alderton’s celebration of female friendships aligns with Rooney’s sophisticated portrayal of how friendships can be as complex and important as romantic relationships.

Millennial experience: Both authors capture the specific experience of being young women in the 2010s and 2020s, particularly around dating culture, social media, and career expectations.

“Nearly everything I know about love, I’ve learnt from my long-term friendships with women.” —Dolly Alderton, Everything I Know About Love

17. Ottessa Moshfegh, 1981 -

Best known for her book Eileen, Ottessa Moshfegh won the Hemingway Foundation PEN Award for this first novel. Born in Massachusetts to a Croatian mother and an Iranian Jewish father, Moshfegh attended Brown University and Barnard College before moving to China to teach English for a few years. After China, she moved to New York to work for a publisher.

Her novella McGlue was her first published work, launching her literary career. In 2015, she published Eileen; in 2017, she published Homesick for Another World, a short story collection. My Year of Rest and Relaxation, her 2018 book, is a unique story about a young woman who decided to use medication to sleep for an entire year.

Psychological realism: Moshfegh’s unflinching approach to mental health and self-destructive behavior complements Rooney’s honest portrayal of how anxiety and depression affect relationships.

Social alienation: Both authors explore how young people struggle with social connection and authentic relationships in contemporary society.

“People truly engaged in life have messy houses.” —Ottessa Moshfegh, Eileen

18. David Nicholls, 1966 -

David Nicholls is an English actor who transformed his acting career into a literary one. Nicholls took science, literature, and drama classes at Barton Peveril College. After acting in college plays, he pursued an acting career in the theater. This led to writing screenplays and scripts, and then in 2003, he published his first novel, Starter for Ten. In his 2011 book One Day, Nicholls tells a compelling love story. The book became an international bestseller and was made into a motion picture. In all, Nicholls has published five novels.

Long-term relationship arc: Nicholls’s One Day structure of following characters over time mirrors Rooney’s interest in how relationships evolve and change, particularly the way people grow in and out of love.

British social observation: Both authors excel at capturing class dynamics and social expectations in contemporary British and Irish society.

“This is where it all begins. Everything starts here, today.” —David Nicholls, One Day

19. Kathleen Glasgow

With books published in over 30 languages, Kathleen Glasgow has succeeded as an author. Girl in Pieces, her 2016 novel, was a number one New York Times Bestseller. She also wrote You’d Be Home Now and How to Make Friends with the Dark and co-authored several books with Liz Lawson. Glasgow keeps much of her personal life private but lives in Tucson.

Mental health focus: Glasgow’s honest approach to self-harm and mental health recovery provides important context for understanding how Rooney’s generation approaches psychological wellness.

Young adult crossover: While writing YA, Glasgow’s themes about identity, relationships, and mental health resonate with the same readers who appreciate Rooney’s honest portrayal of young adult struggles.

“I’m tired and angry at me. For letting myself get smaller and smaller in the hopes that he would notice me more. But how can someone notice you if you keep getting smaller?” —Kathleen Glasgow, Girl in Pieces

20. Miranda Cowley Heller, 1961 -

As a graduate of Harvard, Miranda Cowley Heller spent most of her career as a TV developer. However, throughout her life, she dabbled in writing, and her debut novel, The Paper Palace, came to market in 2021 to much critical acclaim. It was a New York Times bestseller. Cowley Heller also worked on several television shows, including Big Love and Six Feet Under.

Television background: Heller’s TV writing experience brings sharp dialogue and narrative pacing that complements Rooney’s own understanding of how contemporary media affects storytelling expectations.

Relationship complexity: Both authors explore how past relationships and family dynamics create complicated present-day situations, particularly around marriage and long-term commitment.

“Does letting go mean losing everything you have, or does it mean gaining everything you never had?” —Miranda Cowley Heller, The Paper Palace

21. Jennifer Egan, 1962 -

The president of the PEN America Center, Jennifer Egan, has a passion for writing. After graduating from Cambridge University with her master’s degree, she took odd jobs while honing her writing skills. Before launching her work as a novelist, she published several short stories in well-known magazines like The New Yorker. Her most notable works include A Visit from the Goon Squad, a short story collection published in 2010, and Manhattan Beach, her 2017 book, which won the Andrew Carnegie Medal.

Narrative innovation: Egan’s experimental approaches to structure and time in A Visit from the Goon Squad provide context for how Rooney’s seemingly simple prose actually contains sophisticated narrative techniques.

Cultural observation: Both authors excel at capturing how technology and cultural change affect personal relationships and individual identity.

“I don’t want to fade away, I want to flame away - I want my death to be an attraction, a spectacle, a mystery. A work of art.” —Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad

The Contemporary Fiction Renaissance

These authors represent the evolution of contemporary fiction for the digital age, sharing several key characteristics that make them particularly relevant for 2025 readers:

Authentic Digital Voice: They understand how technology and social media have changed the way people communicate and relate to each other, incorporating these changes naturally into their narratives.

Economic Realism: These authors acknowledge how economic uncertainty, student debt, and employment instability affect personal relationships and life choices.

Psychological Sophistication: They write for readers with greater psychological awareness and mental health literacy, addressing anxiety, depression, and therapy culture without stigma.

Relationship Fluidity: They explore non-traditional relationship structures and the complexity of modern dating, friendship, and family dynamics.

Global Perspective: Many have international experience and understand how globalization affects identity and belonging for their generation.

Literary Accessibility: They prove that sophisticated literary fiction doesn’t need to be difficult or pretentious, making complex emotional and social themes accessible to broad audiences.

Sally Rooney’s influence on contemporary fiction extends beyond her own novels to help establish new expectations for how literature can capture modern life authentically. These recommended authors continue that tradition, offering readers the same blend of emotional honesty, social awareness, and literary quality that makes Rooney’s work so compelling and culturally significant.