Joanna is one of the friends Marianne makes at college in Dublin. Unlike her other close friend, Peggy, Joanna takes Marianne’s side when she and Jamie break up, eventually revealing that she never really liked Peggy and Jamie in the first place. Joanna remains a supportive person in Marianne’s life, trying to help her make sense of her confusing relationship with Connell and, in a broader sense, generally staying by her side.
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Joanna Character Timeline in Normal People
The timeline below shows where the character Joanna appears in Normal People. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
8. Three Months Later (February 2012)
...both back. At the party, Marianne wandered into a shed with her friends Peggy and Joanna. She was already quite drunk, but then she drank some more in the shed and...
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Conversation in the shed turned to Connell. Joanna said she liked the way he dressed, but Peggy scoffed and spoke condescendingly about his...
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10. Three Months Later (July 2012)
...her friends that they’d broken up, especially because she’d introduced him to all her friends. Joanna, in particular, was confused by what happened—she asked Marianne to tell her exactly what was...
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14. Five Months Later (December 2013)
Marianne is studying in Sweden. She spends her time writing emails to Joanna and video-chatting Connell. After she broke up with Jamie over the summer, most of her...
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...Jamie. Peggy claimed she was Marianne’s best friend, but she ended up siding with Jamie. Joanna is really the only one she keeps in touch with. She also didn’t go home...
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