Intermezzo

Beyond the fact that they are brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek appear to have little in common.
Peter is a lawyer in Dublin, in his thirties, successful, capable and seemingly invulnerable. Yet, after their father's death, he needs sleeping pills to sleep and struggles to manage his relationships with two very different women – his eternal first love, Sylvia, and Naomi, a student who treats life as one big joke.
Ivan is a professional chess player, twenty-two years old. He always considered himself socially awkward, solitary, the opposite of his charming and popular older brother. During the first weeks of mourning, Ivan meets Margaret, who is older than him and carries her own tumultuous past, and they connect instantly and intensely.