Sublime

In 2019 the Emilia Report (named after England’s first published female poet, Emilia Bassano) analysed coverage of male and female writers and found that women were twice as likely to have their ages referenced – or, in the case of Sally Rooney, her appearance, ‘like a startled deer with sensuous lips’, according to one Swiss critic.

She tries to smooth down the creases in her shirt with her hand and for a moment through the thin material she brushes the uneven skin of the scar running above her right hip. She stops suddenly then, and cautiously looks around, but nothing happens and, relieved, she leaves the room and enters the kitchen.