Connell Waldron, a popular but shy high school student who goes to Marianne Sheridan's house to pick up his mother, Lorraine, who works there as a housekeeper. Marianne, on the other hand, is described as wealthy, isolated, and extremely unpopular. Both Connell and Marianne live in Carricklea, a town in the west of Ireland.
While waiting for his mother to finish cleaning, Connell engages in a charged and uneasy conversation with Marianne. They discuss their economics teacher, Paula Neary, who seems to pay an unusual amount of attention to Connell. Connell admits that Neary makes him uncomfortable.
Their conversation is interrupted when Lorraine finishes her work and they drive home together. During the ride, Lorraine advises Connell to be nicer to Marianne, emphasizing that she is a "very sensitive person." Connell asks his mother to drop the subject.
Marianne preparing for a mysterious date in the evening. However, before she can leave her house, she is confronted and pushed by her bullying older brother, Alan. Once she manages to escape, she sends a text to an unknown recipient, informing them that she is on her way.
Marianne recalls attending a school soccer game with her classmates at the end of the term. Despite not being interested in soccer as a sport, she takes delight in watching Connell play and witnessing him score a goal. Marianne reflects on the evolving nature of their friendship over the past two weeks, how they started borrowing books from each other, and eventually shared a kiss. Being with Connell makes her feel different and frees her from her usual identity.
Connell and Marianne are sitting on his bed, browsing the Trinity College website. Marianne plans to attend Trinity the following year, but Connell is unsure about where he should go and what he should study. He half-heartedly considers studying law, but Marianne suggests that he should pursue English since he clearly enjoys reading novels.
Reflecting on his future, Connell contemplates the risks of leaving his social circle behind to attend Trinity in Dublin. He ponders the stark contrast between the person he is withMarianne and the person he is with his school friends. He also reflects on the increasing intimacy between him and Marianne, as they have become secret lovers. Connell playfully asks Marianne if she will ignore him at Trinity, but he realizes too late that he has unintentionally brought up the secrecy of their relationship in Carricklea.
Marianne attends a nightclub to sell fundraising tickets for the Debs Ball, the Irish equivalent of a high school prom. She suspects that someone suggested her name as a joke since she has never been chosen for such a role before. Upon arrival, most of the other girls are friendly towards her, except for Rachel Moran, the popular girl who has a crush on Connell and sees Marianne as a rival.
Connell arrives with his group of friends, but he and Marianne continue to exchange secretive phone texts without acknowledging each other in public. Marianne dances with Karen, who notes that Connell is staring at her. Karen apologizes for Rachel's behavior.
A group of rowdy, drunk older men, friends of Eric from Connell's group, enters the club. One man openly assaults Marianne by groping her breast. Distressed, she runs out of the room, hearing laughter behind her. The group follows her and finds her collapsed in the hallway. Karen comforts her while others in the group weakly defend the man who assaulted her. Connell defends Marianne and offers to drive her home.
The two of them go to Connell's house, where they end up in bed
together. In a vulnerable moment, Marianne confesses to Connell about her father, who used to physically abuse her and her mother. Connell tells Marianne, for the first time, that he loves her.
Connell visits his grandmother, who recently broke her hip, in the hospital. His grandmother resents him because he resembles his father, whom he has never known. Connell reflects on the difference between his single-parent family and his friends' more traditional, two-parent families. In some ways, he is relieved not to have a father.
He recalls Lorraine, his mother, discovering him and Marianne together the morning after the nightclub incident. Lorraine playfully asks about their relationship. At school, Eric questions Connell, causing him to feel panicked and question his reasons for being with Marianne. In the present, Connell is driving Lorraine home from the hospital and abruptly tells herthat he plans to invite Rachel Moran to the Debs Ball. Lorraine is upset and demands to be dropped off at a garage.
Marianne sits on her front lawn and overhears her brother, Alan, gossiping about high scores on the final exams. She learns that Connell achieved a perfect score of 600, while she received a 590. Alan hands Marianne his phone, intending to joke about congratulating Connell, but Marianne disconnects the call without responding.
Marianne remembers when Connell told her, while they were alone together in his room, about his plans to take Rachel to the Debs Ball. She outwardly remains composed but is privately devastated and quits school the following day. Despite refusing Connell's calls, she continues to see Lorraine, who works as their housekeeper. Lorraine expresses empathy for Marianne and tells her that she deserves better than Connell.
In the present, Alan demands an explanation from Marianne, and his behavior becomes threatening. Their mother, Denise, implicitly approves of Alan's bullying behavior, favoring him over Marianne. Marianne finds
solace in the thought of leaving her town and family soon to attend Trinity College.
Connell attends a party at Trinity College, invited by Gareth, a classmate he doesn't particularly like. He feels uncomfortable in the cosmopolitan environment of Dublin, which is different from his hometown. The only person Connell feels close to is his roommate, Niall, who is from Belfast.
At the party, Gareth greets Connell, and they engage in stilted small talk. Gareth then introduces Connell to his girlfriend, who turns out to be Marianne. Connell quickly realizes that Marianne is popular and happy at Trinity, while he feels isolated and lonely.
Connell reflects on the period after Marianne left their high school. He went through the social motions, even dating Rachel Moran. During the Debs Ball, Eric, his friend, asked Connell about Marianne, and he realized that their relationship had been common knowledge all along. His efforts to keep it a secret were pointless and caused pain to Marianne.
Back at the Trinity party, Connell and Marianne banter about Gareth, Rachel Moran, and their own sexual past. Connell finds relief in Marianne's easy and teasing manner but also feels slightly unsettled.
Connell and Marianne drive home together the morning after a house party at one of Marianne's friend's place. Marianne is hungover and apologizesrepeatedly to Connell for her behavior at the party, but he deflects her apologies.
During the party, Marianne joined her friends Peggy and Joanna while Connell went elsewhere. Marianne mistakenly believed that Connell was with Theresa, a girl he had casually dated, but Theresa was not present. Later in the evening, Marianne, who was extremely drunk, propositioned Connell, but he turned her down because she was too intoxicated.
In the present, Connell and Marianne drive to Marianne's house. Connell expresses hunger, and Marianne invites him in for breakfast. While she takes a shower, Connell eats. After Marianne finishes her shower, she approaches him, and they have sex again, for the first time since high school.
Connell and Marianne are now a couple, although their relationship is quiet and discreet rather than a secret. One night, they are in Marianne's kitchen with her friend Peggy. Peggy asks them directly about their relationship, and they admit that they are together. Peggy then asks if they would be interested in a threesome, but Marianne speaks for both of them and declines.
Connell recalls a recent incident when Marianne returned to Dublin from a weekend at home and was in a bad mood. Connell noticed that she often seemed unhappy after visiting her family. He asked if she might be pregnant, and Marianne told him that she had just gotten her period. This led to a larger conversation about babies and families, during which Marianne revealed that her own family dislikes her.
In the present, Peggy leaves, and Connell thanks Marianne for standing up to her. Marianne admits that she would have gone through with the threesome if Connell had wanted it, but she's glad he didn't. Connell becomes troubled by Marianne's apparent low self-esteem and the lack of agency beneath her confident facade.
Marianne returns to Carricklea for the weekend during summer vacation and talks to her friend Joanna on the phone while in the supermarket. They discuss the meaning of work, and Marianne runs into Connell and Lorraine in the checkout line. Although they are no longer a couple and feel awkward around each other, Connell offers to drive Marianne home after dropping off Lorraine. Marianne reminisces about their past intimacy, including erotic phone messages and a pool party where Connell was affectionate. They broke up two days after the pool
party, from Marianne'sperspective. Marianne is now seeing Jamie, and Connell is confused by her lack of communication. He asks if they are still friends, and Marianne reveals that she is home for her father's anniversary mass. Connell offers to go with her, and they tentatively resume their friendship.
Connell meets Marianne for coffee in Dublin, arriving late due to a street protest. He notices Marianne's tired appearance and they discuss violent protests versus pacifism. Connell makes a comment about there being worse things than getting beat up, which causes Marianne to react internally but not voice her thoughts. The chapter includes a flashback to their breakup, which resulted from a misunderstanding when Connell couldn't afford to stay in Dublin over the summer. At the coffee shop, Marianne tells Connell that she hopes he and Jamie will get along. She also reveals that Jamie is a sexual dominant and she is a submissive. Connell shares a disturbing story of a drunken encounter he had with their former economics teacher, Paula Neary, during the summer.
Marianne receives a call from Connell while she is with her Trinity group of friends, including Jamie. Connell informs her that he has been mugged and is stranded outside the city. Marianne instructs him to take a cab to her apartment, promising to cover the fare. As she retrieves money from her bedroom, Marianne recalls the difficult Christmas with her family, including a violent fight with her brother and insulting remarks from her mother. Connell arrives in a taxi, visibly injured and drunk. Marianne insists on cleaning up his face, despite his objections. Once inside the apartment, Connell shows hostility towards Jamie. When the others leave, Connell tells Marianne that he would prefer if she were dating his mugger and reveals he has a new girlfriend named Helen Brophy, a medical student. Marianne is surprised by her emotional reaction to the news.
Connell travels through Europe by train with Niall and Elaine after winning a scholarship. The scholarship provides him with newfound freedom, money, and security. Marianne has also received a scholarship, which holds more emotional than financial value for her. Connell and his friends are headed to visit Marianne, Peggy, and Jamie at Marianne's vacation house in Trieste, their final stop before returning to Dublin. Throughout the trip, Connell staysin touch with his mother, girlfriend Helen(who is in Chicago), and Marianne. His emails to Marianne are longer and more literary, while his exchanges with Helen are loving but more conventional. Helen senses Marianne's continued influence on Connell, which makes her feel suspicious and insecure. In Trieste, Connell and his friends meet Marianne and her friends. Marianne is welcoming, but Peggy is cold and Jamie behaves poorly. After Jamie starts a fight with Marianne, Connell intervenes, and he and Marianne retreat to a private garden where they spend the night together, only sharing kisses.
Marianne is in Lund, Sweden, where she is spending an academic year abroad. She reads emails from Connell and Joanna, who are curious about her new Swedish boyfriend, Lukas, known for taking artistic photographs. Marianne goes to Lukas's apartment, where their relationship involves violent sexual games, similar to her previous relationship with Jamie. She feels isolated in Sweden, finding the culture and language alienating, and the toxic relationship drains her and contributes to her sense of worthlessness. Most of her Trinity social group has shunned her after breaking up with Jamie. In Lukas's apartment, Marianne agrees to be photographed naked but resists when he introduces bondage into their photographs. She leaves when Lukas tells her he loves her, questioning how he can believe his actions are acts of love.
Later(March 2014) " Connell is in a campus mental health facility, filling out a questionnaire. Niall sent him there due to his increasing despair and morbid thoughts. He feels isolated despite his scholarship and blames himself for failing to help his high school friend Rob, who died by suicide. Connell recalls attending Rob's funeral with his girlfriend Helen, feeling embarrassed by her neediness and superficiality. Marianne was also at the funeral, and they embraced for a long time. After Helen confronted him about the embrace, he and Helen broke up. Connell is rediscovering his interest in fiction writing and finds moments of joy in it despite his struggles.
Marianne and Connell are together in Connell's old bedroom in Carricklea. Connell is home for the weekend, and Marianne is staying with her family for the summer. Connell watches a soccer game on his computer while Marianne tries to sleep. Marianne tells Connell about Eric's recent apology for how he treated her in highschool, and they briefly discuss Rob and his demons. Marianne remembers a protest they attended together in Dublin in support of Gaza. After the protest, while driving back, Connell tells Marianne again that he loves her, and she reciprocates. In Connell's room, they discuss their friendship, and Connell admits he is still attracted to her, making their friendship complicated. They start to have sex but Connell hesitates when Marianne requests him to hit her. Ashamed, Marianne leaves the house. When she returns home, Alan, her brother, picks a fight with her and in her attempt to hide, he bangs her door into her face, breaking her nose.
Connell is in the kitchen with his mother, Lorraine, right after Marianne leaves their home. Lorraine informs Connell that one of his old girlfriends is pregnant. He asks Lorraine if she ever regretted having him at a young age, and she assures him that he is the love of her life and she doesn't regret it. Connell recalls the moment when his first short story was
published anonymously in the Trinity literary magazine, feeling a mix of excitement and embarrassment. He then receives a phone call from Marianne, who tells him about her bloody nose but doesn't explain how it happened. Connell offers to pick her up, and when he arrives at her house, Marianne answers the door with Alan behind her. Connell softly asks if Alan was the one who caused her bloody nose, and Marianne confirms it. Connell tells Marianne to get in his car, and once she does, he confronts Alan and instructs him to leave Marianne alone. He drives Marianne back to his house to ensure her safety.
Connell and Marianne now live together in Dublin while they finish their studies at Trinity. They have an open relationship, and Marianne feels a sense of normalcy, blending in with everyone else. She has a part-time office job, and Connell edits the college literary magazine. Marianne is estranged from her own family following the fight with Alan, and when she visits Carricklea, she stays with Connell and Lorraine. One morning, as Marianne prepares for work and Connell sits in bed with his computer, he reveals that he has been accepted into an MFA program in fiction writing in New York City. Initially feeling betrayed and insecure because she didn'tknow about his application, Marianne eventually tells Connell that he should go.