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Barack Obama names Irish novel as one of his favourite books of 2019 – and people can’t quite believe it

Irish people can't picture the former US President reading the book

Sally Rooney’s novel ‘Normal People’ was featured on Barack Obama’s Favourite Books of 2019 list, and people can’t quite believe it.

The coming-of-age novel follows Irish teenagers Marianne and Connell, who attend the same secondary school in a small town in the West of Ireland.

In school, Connell is popular and well-liked, while Marianne is seen as an outsider – but then everything changes when both of them are accepted into Trinity College in Dublin.

While ‘Normal People’ has been critically acclaimed, fans of the book just can’t picture the former US President reading a book about “horny lonely Irish college students”.

Obama endorsing ‘Normal People’ as a novel is great news for the BBC, as the book is set to be released as a BBC TV adaption early next year.

The series is being directed by Irish filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson, and will star British actress Daisy Edgar-Jones as Marianne, and Paul Mescal as Connell.

In the final Gosscast episode of 2019, Goss.ie Founder Ali Ryan and Goss.ie Editor Kendra Becker talk through the biggest stories of the year.

From the Tristan Thompson and Jordyn Woods scandal to the Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney drama, the girls are spilling all the tea. Take a listen:

Listen on iTunes and Spotify:

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