Conversations with Friends

Read on for the 11 key changes between Sally Rooney's bestselling novel and the brand-new Hulu limited series starring Alison Oliver, Joe Alwyn, Sasha Lane, ...

In the book, Bobbi shows up at the apartment and Bobbi says, "That was a weird email, but I love you too." Like the changes in communications between Nick and Frances, the long apology that Frances writes to Bobbi after she faints does not take the form of a rushed email. The two do have a confrontational-esque phone call in the books, after Frances discovers Melissa has sent Bobbi her story and Melissa says to Frances, "Why did you fuck my husband?" In the show, Bobbi calls Frances to tell her, "That was a pretty sold email...it was good. One of the pivotal moments in Conversations with Friends (the novel) is a long email Melissa sends Frances after she learns of the affair. In that conversation, Melissa says much of what is written in the email. In the book, Melissa is a magazine writer working on a story about Frances and Bobbi's spoken-word poetry. Quietly and with a tiny mouth I sad said: 'no.'" The difference between "I doubt it" and "no" are miles apart. Therefore, later on, in episode eight, Melissa's book launch is an entire scene—in Rooney's novel, Bobbi and Frances merely go to a reading that an essay of Melissa's appears in. The dialogue begins similarly, with Bobbi saying, "Frances has a secret boyfriend," but then it completely goes in a different direction. Throughout the rest of the story, Frances thinks about the New Testament and often references biblical characters, but this doesn't factor into the show at all. The biggest change in characters from Sally Rooney's novel to the TV show is that Bobbi became a Black American woman.

We're back to the Sally Rooney Cinematic Universe, this time investigating the inner lives of four friends/lovers. A recap of episode one of Hulu's ...

Bobbi wants to know if Nick feels “conflicted” about playing a gay character in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Nick counters that Brick could be bisexual, to which Bobbi responds by outing Frances. Rude! Also, I feel like our show is doing Frances no favors — she’s supposed to be the more reserved of the pair, but in the book she gets a clever reply in here (“I’m kind of an omnivore”), whereas in the show she is awfully … blank. Nick arrives late but makes it in time for most of Bobbi and Frances’s performance of a poem called “Diamonds,” which makes exactly the points about engagement rings that you might expect (capitalist, sexist, bad) and afterward, Melissa tells them it’s brilliant. By the next day, Bobbi is already making grand proclamations and cutting insights based on her one (1) interaction with Nick and Melissa as a couple. A very chic and just-so-older woman is by the bar after the performance, someone Bobbi and Frances immediately clock as “that writer.” Her name is Melissa (she’s played by Jemima Kirke); with her red lipstick and silky top and hair bleached blonde to the roots, she scans as sooo much more sophisticated and mature than Bobbi and Frances. She compliments the girls by calling their performance “sweet but ruthless.” Bobbi does the introductions: Frances is “the writer,” and she, Bobbi, is “the muse.” She also blurts out that she and Frances used to have sex but don’t anymore. Melissa and Bobbi escape for a cigarette so that Nick and Frances can do the Sally Rooney special: awkward conversation between people who hate talking and would prefer to skip to the part where all their communication happens via text. I assume this is a sort of save-the-cat situation to endear us to Bobbi, but the episode has not really set us up to think she’s a very good friend, no? Bobbi and Frances have the easy intimacy of people who are used to falling asleep on each other’s couches and in each other’s arms. As Melissa and Bobbi disappear to shower (separately) (… for now?!), Nick gets home. I cannot tell yet if this story is a period piece set in 2017 or if Frances is using wired headphones in a “wired headphones are actually back now” kind of way … if you see any clues to suggest either one, please leave them in the comments. Frances and Bobbi’s friendship goes back to secondary school, where the “radiantly attractive” Bobbi, who had a penchant for performative acts of progressivism (piercing her nose, writing “fuck the patriarchy” on the school wall) was the show-off whose relationship with Frances brought Frances out of her shell and into her own. (Rooney was 26.) As Vulture’s Chief Sally Rooney Content Correspondent — I recapped Normal People — I am very excited to return to the book that designated Rooney as the voice of a generation (or a voice of a … you know). I’ve read it, but I promise no spoilers for those who have not. Actually, in the novel, everybody is Irish, and now in the show, only Frances and Nick, who we’ll meet shortly, still are; Melissa, Nick’s wife, is British.

Conversations with Friends is the new Sally Rooney adaptation for Hulu, plus the new Downton Abbey movie, Young Sheldon's finale, and Emmy Rossum as ...

As for movies, there are several light-hearted summer films to kick off the season, starting with Netflix's A Perfect Pairing starring Adam Demos and Victoria Justice. Love, wine, and Australia— what more do you need? We also have the premiere of Angelyne on Peacock this week, and all I can say is wow. Aside from a handful of broadcast shows bidding adieu for the summer (or forever), this week is all about the premieres of buzzy new series and movies.

First, we have Rooney readers. They are joined by the audience of the TV show Girls, brought in by Jemima Kirke. Plus Swifties by way of Joe Alwyn, a respected ...

They are joined by the audience of the TV show Girls, brought in by Jemima Kirke. Plus Swifties by way of Joe Alwyn, a respected and talented actor who, nevertheless, must be identified first and foremost as Taylor Swift’s Boyfriend. (This article hereby adopts the position that objectifying Taylor Swift’s boyfriend is an act of radical gender equality.) Conversation risks bringing together a horny, armchair-philosopher illuminati, three powerful fandoms united in the desire to fuck in oversized knits. Such are the essential themes of Conversation With Friends, a Hulu/BBC miniseries out now.

Bobbi has a crush on Melissa, but Frances is inexorably drawn to Nick—a fascination that quickly gives way to an all-consuming affair. Heartbreak and emotional ...

It also seems evident that the reader is meant to take some of her more reckless behavior—such as sleeping with the guy she meets on Tinder—as further self-harm. (The book hints at no such revelation.) Later, when she confesses to hurting herself, she says it was a one-time thing and that she’s not going to do it again. As a result, many of the most meaningful contrasts in the story—between Frances’ deep well of feeling for Nick and the cold way she often treats him; between her worshipful reverence for Bobbi and the way she often appears to take her for granted—are lost. In the show, Frances and Bobbi are still inseparable, but their prior relationship is hardly even mentioned for at least the first half of the series, and there are hardly any displays of affection between the two—nor any other mannerisms that might have hinted at the depth of the pair’s codependence. However, Frances appears to cope no worse than in the book; if anything, the absence of Frances’ inner thoughts makes it seem that she’s handling their fight with comparatively little distress. Things went on.” Later, when Frances and Bobbi reunite, Bobbi admits that she isn’t even mad that Frances wrote and submitted the story—just that she didn’t tell her. On the page, Bobbi tells Frances that the piece of fiction Frances secretly wrote about her is “actually a good story” before tearing it up in front of her and storming out. In the book, Bobbi and Frances’ relationship with Melissa and Nick really takes off after Melissa asks to interview them about their spoken-word poetry for a magazine profile. It's not a surprise, then, that some of the most expressive scenes in the series are the sex scenes. The book follows Frances and Bobbi, two college-aged best friends and ex-girlfriends, as they become intertwined in the marriage of an older couple named Nick and Melissa. Bobbi has a crush on Melissa, but Frances is inexorably drawn to Nick—a fascination that quickly gives way to an all-consuming affair. And every new update—from casting announcements to trailer drops to the release of a new Phoebe Bridgers song written especially for the show—has only sent fans further into a frenzy. Suffice it to say that Conversations with Friends—the 2017 book on which the new series is based—captured the imaginations of readers everywhere.