Sophie, Standing There: The highly anticipated new novel from the international bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss

by Meg Mason

From the award-winning, bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss comes an achingly tender, poignant, funny and bittersweet story of love, loneliness and finding connection in the most unlikely of places.
'So smart, so funny, so moving - Mason has done it again, this time using behind the scenes of a literary festival to reveal the complexity of loneliness and how one woman attempts to dig herself out. I absolutely loved it' Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry



Sophie Pattison is such a lovely person. Warm, kind, amazingly positive. She works as a freelance sound technician for literary festivals. She is a massive reader and was recently forced to moved house. She is bracingly lonely.* So much so, the absence of others feels like a physical weight, if that makes sense. But then, Sophie discovers an author through work, and comes to adore her. Her books, her interviews, podcasts, and wisdom and brilliance, her beautiful words. It's like, solace and company. It's almost like love. And Sophie would love to meet her, although she never will, obviously. The author would never come to her festival. She's too famous for that. Too brilliant, too beautiful. And in a way, thank goodness, because that would change everything. Sophie's entire life.

But ... what if she did?

*although she has a best friend called Emma, and an amazing brother. And a husband. But a number of things happened there.

Praise for Sophie, Standing There

'A moving examination of what it means to be alone in the world, and what it means to find connection. It is, by turns, heartbreaking, hilarious, and deeply hopeful. Meg Mason is a dazzling talent.' Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

'Sophie, Standing There unfolds like a strange origami crane in reverse--so achingly tender and so brilliantly subtle that I could never put it down. The loneliness of our inner world and the quiet movement towards connection--nobody evokes it as breathtakingly as Meg Mason. And by 'it', I guess I mean simply being a person. Dazzling.' Catherine Newman, Wreck

'The lucky reader of Sophie, Standing There peers at the world through Sophie's eyes, and wonders how her life shaped this view. When the answers are revealed, we experience a kind of wholeness with her. Or at least the possibility of wholeness. I loved Sophie, and I love Meg Mason's brain and the strange, wonderful, funny stories she gives us.' Ann Napolitano, Hello Beautiful



Praise for Sorrow and Bliss:

'Gloriously tender and absorbing ... It is impossible to read this novel and not be moved. It is also impossible not to laugh out loud... Mason pulls off something extraordinary in this huge-hearted novel, alchemising an unbearable anguish into something tender and hilarious and redemptive and wise, without ever undermining its gravity or diminishing its pain.' Guardian

'A raucously funny, beautifully written, emotion-bashing book' The Times

'Devastating and sharply witty' Books+Publishing

'A book you'll want to devour in one sitting ... fresh and revelatory, sharp, racy and entertaining throughout.' The Saturday Paper

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Books About Books, Audiobook, Mental Health, Novels

355 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication August 27, 2026

About the author

Meg Mason is the author of Sorrow and Bliss, which became an international bestseller after it was first published in Australia. Winner of the British Book Industry Book of the Year, and shortlisted for the Women’s Prize, it has since been translated into more than 30 languages. Her first career was in journalism, beginning at The Times of London, later writing for Vogue, ELLE, GQ, Sunday Style and The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts.
 
Born in New Zealand, she lives in Sydney with her husband and two daughters.
 
Her third novel, Sophie, Standing There, will be published worldwide in 2026.

Reviews

[miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

sorrow and bliss is a perfect novel; this is not. but it has a lot of heart and such deep wells of empathy and attentiveness to feeling. meg mason’s attention to the mundane details of life combined with her infinitely layered character work remains my favourite thing about her writing. and any novel that makes me cry gets five stars

[Liz Hein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think readers will feel the exact same way about Sophie, Standing There as they did about Sorrow & Bliss.

[Melissa P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

📖 Won in a giveaway 📚

3.5 stars. This book turned out to be pretty interesting. I was going back and forth on my rating. A good chunk of the book earlier on, I didn't really like. It wasn't really keeping my attention. I was waiting for the story to go somewhere. The main character, Sophie, meets a famous author named Lilac Dunne. Sophie went through a painful divorce and pretty much shuts out her best friend, Emma and Lilac becomes her main focus. Lilac seems very sure of herself and Sophie is drawn to her confidence. The feelings keep developing and it becomes a bit unhealthy as she learns Lilac doesn't feel the same way. I enjoyed the interactions Sophie had with Lilac. The story definitely picked up for me and it became hard to put down. The emotions in the book feel very real. I became sympathetic for Sophie. I wish the book had caught my attention sooner but I was happy for the parts I did enjoy. Thank you to the author, Meg Mason, Harper Collins and Goodreads for my free copy. Happy reading! ✒️📚

[Sara Troup · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been waiting for this novel ever since reading Sorrow and Bliss for book club years ago, and I’m happy to report that *Sophie, Standing There* was absolutely worth the wait.

Meg Mason has such a gift for writing women in all their contradictions: the things they say, the things they swallow, and the things they barely admit to themselves. Sophie Pattison is described as warm, kind, and relentlessly positive, yet she can go an entire day without speaking and spends much of her life alone with books. Mason captures that loneliness with startling precision. At times the writing felt visceral… I could feel Sophie’s craving for connection and the ache of being unseen despite being loved by the people around her.

The literary festival backdrop was a delight for a book lover. Sophie’s work among authors, events, and readers gives the novel an irresistible bookish atmosphere and the storyline involving her growing attachment to a long-admired author is both unique and quietly tense. The parasocial relationship never feels gimmicky; instead, it becomes a thoughtful exploration of longing, companionship, and the stories we tell ourselves.

What I love most about Meg Mason is her ability to dig deep into the female psyche and bring to light feelings that many of us experience but rarely discuss. But for all its exploration of loneliness, this isn't a heavy or bleak read. Mason's wit shines throughout and there were several moments that had me laughing out loud. Sophie's ex-husband in particular is an absolute creation. The humor feels perfectly timed, providing a welcome counterbalance to the novel's more tender and heartbreaking moments.

If you're drawn to intelligent literary fiction, weird girl/sad girl stories, and beautifully crafted prose, this is an easy recommendation. Sophie, Standing There is a moving story about loneliness, love, and the unexpected ways we find connection. As someone who has always turned to books for comfort, I loved the way Meg Mason explores how stories can keep us company when we need them most, while reminding us that real connection can sometimes be found in the most unexpected places.

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adored this one. But it’s not out till august 😱.

[Sayari Debnath]

Nothing good can come from listening to podcasts 👍

[Becca Moody · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve not read any of Meg Mason’s books before but, given how many times Sorrow and Bliss has been recommended to me, I jumped at the chance to read this ARC of Sophie, Standing There. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for me!

Firstly, the protagonist was not one I was rooting for. Maybe I just have little patience for passivity, but Sophie, come on. I really wanted Sophie to just suck it up, say how she feels and make an active choice for once in her life. The purpose of the novel, perhaps. But where was the character development?

The story itself is quite uneventful really. The interesting elements are all in the form of meditations on Sophie’s past, which were included almost as afterthoughts. There were some revelations about Sophie’s past that felt like they were supposed to be plot twists or bombshells, but they were revealed in such a half-hearted way and with no breadcrumbs leading up to them, so much so that it just felt confusing.

I sadly found the book’s core story both pretentious and unbelievable. It read a little like how I imagine a boring fan fiction to be. It doesn’t help that the focus of the desire being an utterly intolerable, unkind and vacuous woman, and I don’t think that was thoroughly explored.

Overall, I'm really not sure what this book was trying to do.

Thanks NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for this ARC!

[Chelsea Knowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.*

Sophie, Standing There follows Sophie Pattison who is a kind person who will help anyone out. She has a good relationship with her brother and a best friend who wants to spend more time with her. Sophie is a little lonely after her divorce and the time can pass slowly on her own. She is a big reader though and finds comfort in her books. One day she stumbles upon an author she hasn’t read in a long time. Sophie latches onto this author by re reading all the author’s books and watching interviews and podcasts of the author. In a way Sophie feels like she is in love with the author and would like to meet them. If she did meet the author, Sophie feels like it could change her whole life.

At first I wasn’t too sure about this book but the further I got into this, the more I came to understand Sophie. This book is focused on character over plot and Sophie is a nice person who has tried to do everything right but has ended up alone in her late thirties. It was easy to emphasise with Sophie and it made sense why she attached to the author. As this story is focused on Sophie, it is a little slow but I found it to be quite powerful. I think this is a good exploration of a parasocial relationship due to the way Sophie idealised the author, a person she didn’t know based on what she saw online and read. I will be recommending this book as I had a good time reading this. This book is also very bookish as Sophie works at book events, is a big reader and has friends at her local bookstore and I enjoyed that.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this, and immediately downloaded a podcast I remember listening to back in November 2021 - an interview with Meg Mason, in conversation with Hattie Crisell. Once you’ve read Sophie, Standing There, you’ll understand this impulse! I wanted to hear the author’s voice again.
This novel will stay with me for a long time. It is gut-wrenchingly sad and hopeful and compassionate. It’s about a parasocial relationship, behind-the-scenes at a literary festival, and the realities of life as a tech crew member (my partner works in sound & lighting and can confirm that Mason’s portrayal of this type of work is very accurate!)
I would like to know Sophie in real life. I’d love to have a conversation with her about books.

[Stephanie Bivens · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading the first 30 pages or so of Sophie, Standing There, I assumed this would be a lovely, heartwarming tale of the impact of literature on our lives and how it can be a light during our darkest times. Suffice it to say, that is not the trajectory this book follows, and it is much the better for it. I was so impressed by Mason’s ability to relate Sophie’s grief, embarrassment, and pain in a way that felt deeply personal to me as a reader while still creating an extremely propulsive narrative. This ARC was such a fun read, and I can’t wait for everyone else to get their hands on it soon!

[Iz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Melissa Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been pretty slack with reviews for pretty much all of 2026, but having devoured Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason in less than 24 hours, I felt called to write one.

This is the kind of book that reminds me why I read in the first place. The more I read, the rarer it feels to find one that completely takes over my life.

This was that book.

I keep wanting to say, “Sophie is me.”

What I should probably say is that there is so much in Sophie that feels painfully, hilariously and beautifully relatable. Anyone who has ever built their personality around books, or hidden inside them when life gets messy, will recognise parts of themselves in her.

Although… if I did simply say “Sophie is me”, then once you’ve read it you might look at me a little differently and wonder whether I’m actually a crazy bitch.

To which I can only answer: absolutely. Don’t we all have a little crazy bitch inside us?

Sophie has my dream job, working at a writers festival, and I would love someone to count the number of references to books, authors and literature woven through this novel. Every few pages I wanted to stop and add another title to my TBR.

As Sophie’s life begins to unravel, she does what any sensible book person would do: she retreats into books.

Then things became a little too relatable.

Sophie’s husband has the same name as my husband. My husband also owns a leaf blower. (If you know, you know.)

Then another significant man in the story has the same name as my ex!

Meg Mason… are you stalking me?

Maybe I’m actually Meg Mason’s “author.”

After reading this, she’s definitely mine.

(That’s a joke, Meg. Please still come back to the Auckland Writers Festival. I’ll happily shout you an egg sandwich.)

What I loved most was Sophie herself. She’s messy, contradictory, funny, and frustrating. I loved the writers festival setting, the bookish supporting cast, and slowly uncovering Sophie’s history. And that backstory… Where the fuck did that come from?

I genuinely didn’t see it coming, and I loved that the book trusted its readers enough not to over-explain everything.

It’s funny in exactly the way I like funny books to be, but underneath the humour is an enormous amount of tenderness. Meg Mason somehow writes about grief, identity, marriage, ambition, loneliness and books without ever making the novel feel heavy. And for those who always ask: no, this wasn’t a crying book for me.

Someone please make this into a movie immediately.

My only complaint is that it wasn’t another 200 pages longer.

Five stars. No notes. See you in Auckland, Meg!

[Helen Haythornthwaite · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an intense, yet very intriguing, character-driven novel which I found unsettling at times, but thoroughly enjoyed reading.

In this book, we meet Sophie who is recently separated from her husband and currently living alone in a flat which has seen better days. She’s a freelance tech worker, and joins backstage teams for big events; including literary festivals.

I had to push through the first few chapters as I questioned the way that authors in the book were being portrayed, and it took a while to become used to this author’s dark humour. Having said that, once I settled into the story, I could really appreciate the beautiful way it was told, and the depth of feeling it brought out in me as I read.

Sophie’s journey is a cathartic one. We see her living alone and isolated, anxious whenever she’s with other people - even those she knows - and always worried about doing or saying the wrong thing. She becomes infatuated with an author and thoughts of this author infiltrate every part of her life. She starts to see elements of her life through the author’s eyes, and ends up falling in love with her.

As the story develops, we find out what has made Sophie the person she is, and my heart really went out to her; especially with the way some people treated her. I was willing her to find her voice all the way through this narrative.

I loved the whole setting of this story which was around books: the literary festivals, well-known authors and their books, a bookshop and Sophie’s own love of books. This author has explored an alternative perspective to literary events, which is unlike any I’ve come across before but which is fascinating and intriguing regardless.

It’s a book I’d highly recommend to fans who love literary fiction with a deep character-driven focus. I feel like Sophie has shared part of her life with me, which is always a sign of a brilliantly written book.


I was sent a proof copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[em · Rating 4 out of 5]

A vivid and rich story about Sophie, who was a sad yet relatable character. I really enjoyed the writing, it was easy to get lost in and blend into the background of Sophie’s life. A compelling character driven story, this really explored what it means to be lonely and how desperate we can become for human affection and attention. I loved the thread of hope throughout this, no matter how sad or difficult Sophie’s life was, there was always a small glimmer of something better. Fantastic character building.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #SophieStandingThere #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m trying to think of an author I love that could be my Lilac. I love whatever’s wrong with Sophie; there’s something about her obsession that I want to experience. But they do say you should never meet your idols…

“You could be sad in a bookshop, but you were never happier than when you were in a bookshop.”

“I don't miss people... I made that decision a long time ago. I'm not going to be depleted by another person's absence [...] If I can't see them, they don't exist. But it's a choice. Longing is not a good use of energy”

[tegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

sad not to have loved this. sophie read like an emily austin protagonist, which for my personal taste is not a good thing. her passivity and tolerance for mistreatment was so frustrating, although i know that was the point. the middle third balanced the feelings of hope and grief better than the grim first section, but the final part did not stick the landing for me. hated lilac and her inclusion felt stiff. i do feel confident that this book will find its audience, but it’s not the sorrow and bliss lovers
thanks to netgalley for the arc 🙂‍↕️

[Travellingjayney · Rating 4 out of 5]

My heart hurt for about 320 of 355 pages, and I feel like it needs a LOT of content warnings. Despite that, I didn’t stop reading - I really did care about what happens to Sophie. I wanted SOMETHING good to happen for her.

Sorrow and Bliss is such a fave, I couldn’t wait for Sophie, Standing There. When I accidentally woke at 4am on release day, I didn’t roll over to go back to sleep, I logged onto Amazon to download and start reading. I don’t think I was prepared for just how poignant and grief-stricken this book would be, but hey, I survived it.

[Guinevere DelaMare]

(Audiobook)

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

[Juliana Z]

Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Publishing for the ARC.

This novel follows Sophie, a recently divorced woman trying to figure out who she is outside of being a wife. Lonely, well-read, and painfully nice, she drifts through a week working as a sound tech at an author symposium, surrounded by literary figures and readers. At times she feels like a caricature of Eleanor Oliphant though Sophie specifically insists otherwise.

The first half of the book is very focused on character development. For a while, it felt like little was happening beyond Sophie’s internal monologue as she navigates the week. By the midpoint, however, I felt like I understood her, but I didn't really like her.

The second half of the book is where the story really begins. While there isn’t much action, there are monumental changes in the character—she takes herself to the brink and back again. It captured my attention, and I read the entire second half in one go because I couldn’t put it down.

Overall, this was a solid four-star read for me. I especially enjoyed the insights into the literary world and the relationships between authors, booksellers, and devoted readers. There are also some genuinely funny moments. I think it would make a great book club pick, particularly for discussions around divorce, identity, loneliness, and the role literature plays in people’s lives.

[Taylor - taylorsreadsandreviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a deeply thoughtful and rare look into how it feels to love something (albeit parasocially) in such a messy and all-consuming way as a distraction from grief.I absolutely adored this. It is on my list of “soul books”

[Debumere · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m sorry to say I did not finish this one. It was quite slow and I didn’t care much for the main character. Sophie was newly separated, living in her ex’s rental flat and working for a literary festival organiser. Soph had a growing crush on an author and I got as far as them leaving the venue and then realised I no longer cared what happened next

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for this ARC.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 50% of this book was very strong for me, but I found the second half of this novel less compelling or believable. Still definitely worth the read and a book I enjoyed, but it could have been a new favourite if done just slightly differently.

Sophie was a very compelling character for me, and she was why I loved the first half of this book so much. Not only did I love seeing how she acted and reacted throughout her every-day life, but I felt like I was experiencing everything she felt and on the same level, even if it was something that I myself wouldn’t feel in that same situation. Sophie’s emotions were just so well portrayed, while still being very subtly conveyed in the writing. An author being able to evoke strong emotion/reaction to “ordinary” circumstances, without exaggerating or being on-the-nose with their writing, is a feature in all of my favourite books.
It was also really refreshing to read about a main character who is kind and patient, while still being flawed and having occasional “selfish” thoughts which she mostly doesn’t act on, even when she should. This was a nice change just because this sub-genre of “lonely female main character who is obsessed with another person” is, I feel, full of messier and unlikeable main characters (which I do also enjoy but it is nice to have something a bit different).

As for why I struggled more in the later half of the book, I just felt that the plot-line that this half centred on (which doesn’t come out of nowhere by any means, but is definitely a shift in what is happening, for lack of a better spoiler-free descriptor) was prolonged to the point that I lost belief in it. The first half of this book felt so real to me that this shift made me lose a fair bit of my interest, or at least my investment, in the book. I will be vague to avoid spoilers in my description below, so do read on if you haven’t picked up this book yet.
I liked the start of this second half as I found the first few interactions to be tense and electric, but then the interactions seemed to over-stay their welcome. This meant that what Sophie was feeling became out of step with how I felt because I could no longer believe what was happening and didn’t feel the impact of it, which was very much not the case for the first half of this book. Also, while I liked a lot of what was uncovered about Sophie’s backstory, particularly with respect to her relationship with her ex-husband, I found the other big “reveal” about Sophie’s past (surrounding her childhood) out of place and not something that made a lot of sense for me. I can definitely see how it would have led to Sophie being how she is, and is in some ways interesting and fits with her character, but it just felt out of place to me in the narrative and thus I feel it could have been left out and the book could have been stronger for it. Without this explanation about Sophie’s past, I still think her character makes sense (particularly as someone who relates a lot to Sophie without having had a childhood like her’s) and thus I personally don’t feel like the way that this plot point was worth including.

My disappointment with the second half of this book definitely won’t be the case for many other readers though, so don’t let that put you off if you like the sound of this book!

Another thing to note is that this book is full of references to the literary world, particularly to authors themselves. The author Sophie is obsessed with doesn’t exist in real life, but many of the other authors who appear do and, as someone who loves to read a lot and happens to have read from and know of most of the authors who appeared in this book, I found this very fun. I can see how some people may find this annoying though. It is definitely heaviest at the start of the book, so I wouldn’t let you put it off.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

[Mary Lins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meg Mason’s latest novel, “Sophie, Standing There” is a love letter to readers who think their favorite authors are equivalent to rock stars! I confess I’m a bit of a super-fan of several authors myself, and after I read “Sorrow and Bliss” Meg Mason became one of them.

Thirty-eight-year-old Sophie is a sound tech who puts the microphones on famous writers during large book festivals. She is regularly ignored by those writers as she adjusts their headsets and clips the battery packs inside their shirts - invisible in the wings.

Sophie has been having a difficult time as her husband recently harshly discarded her. In her grief she pushes her best friend Emma away, but she is exceptionally close to her brother Laurie, who, because of their unique childhood, is the only person who truly understands her.

Sophie is an accommodating person. She is good at her job, and unbidden she even performs tasks at work to make life easier on those around her. But Sophie is lonely, and grieving. With everyone in her life Sophie is extremely accommodating, so much so that she is unable to stand up for herself.

Sophie, like many others, is a huge fan of a beautiful actress who has become a bestselling and sought after novelist. Sophie, in her loneliness, develops an imaginary relationship with this celebrity author; reading and re-reading her books, listening her interviews and podcasts over and over. She even starts to imagine that the author is there with her – conversing with her. A friend. She imagines that she is falling in love with this author.

So, when this author is scheduled to appear at Sophie’s festival, Sophie begins to spiral. She both wants and doesn’t want to meet her. What will this famous author be like in person? How will Sophie respond?

Not many authors can pull of hilarity and gut-wrenching sadness the way Mason can! Her characters, Sophie and the author especially, are fully realized and complex.

Sophie’s story is compelling and unique. Without judgement, Mason gradually reveals the ways in which Sophie and Laurie’s childhood was unconventional and complicated and how it has impacted their adulthoods.

I received an advance copy (galley) of the novel from Harper and so when Sophie obtains a galley of the celebrity author’s new book the reverence with which she approached it felt meta to me; I had just done that with the book I was holding!

Mason has indeed written a love letter to fans of contemporary literature. Many real authors appear in the story (in a fictional way) and there are many references to well-loved novels. If it is the goal of a novelist to create unforgettable characters, and structure plots that make the reader reluctant to put the book down and reenter “real life”, then Mason has achieved that goal. Brava!

(And yes, I will be listening to Meg Mason give interviews on “Sophie, Standing There” on YouTube and podcasts when the novel comes out in September!)

[ria · Rating 3 out of 5]

"sophie, standing there" is a complicated book, packing a lot more than you'd expect. as a result, my feelings for it are also quite complicated.

sophie is a sound tech, working book festivals. as she goes through a brutal divorce from her husband, paul, sophie turns to an author she'd forgotten about, but whose books she'd loved. she becomes infatuated and obsessed with this author, consuming every book, interview, podcast that she'd done, to the point that the author becomes a companion to sophie, in her mind. that is, until the author is announced to appear at one of the book festivals sophie works on.

this is a character-driven book, so the pace is quite slow, especially in the first half, which i can't say i struggled through, because i found this to be a very immersive read, but it also feels like it meanders a lot in the first 100 pages or so. that being said, i really enjoyed the narration style. it takes a bit to get used to, but once you do, it flows very nicely, despite the fact that it's very disjointed, kind of how it feels to sometimes space in and out of yourself - having your own internal thoughts, then coming back to trying to focus on what's happening around you, in real life.

i also think this does an incredible job at portraying sophie's parasocial relationship with this author she's never met, and the kind of maladaptive daydreaming she resorts to in her loneliness and unhappiness. it fluctuates back and forth between sophie's feelings of ease and happiness in hanging onto this imaginary world she's created in her mind, and complete shame, knowing that it isn't real, in a way that feels suffocating.

sophie's character comes undone and a lot of her action (or inaction?) makes a lot more sense in the second half of this, but i also don't know how i feel about all of that's revealed in this part, which is why i'm really on the fence about it. all the other characters, too, felt a bit unfinished to me, i couldn't really place them that well, so they all kind of blurred in the background.

overall, i think this is an emotional and honest portrayal of someone trying really hard to come back to themselves, or find some new version of themselves, after having spent an entire life trying to make space for others/make everyone else feel good. it is also an interesting exploration of the way we cope in unpleasant situations of grief and sadness. there is also some threads here about authors, and how much an author, through their work, belongs to us as avid fans and readers, but i found this to be a little flimsier than the rest of the book, personally. still, i think this is certainly a unique read, and hard to put down once you pick it up!

thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! all opinions are my own

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman who compares herself to Eleanor Oliphant early doors, Sophie works as a freelance tech for events. As a devoted reader, Sophie’s favourite events to work are the literary festivals. Even when the talent can get snobby, and mic-ing up certain authors brings more trouble than it’s worth, Sophie enjoys listening in on the talks just as much as she does engaging in backstage banter with her fellow techs.

When she gets home from a show, Sophie does little more than eat, sleep and repeat. Newly separated from her partner, it’s all she can do now that she’s living alone, her beloved brother has moved away, and she’s distancing herself from her best friend. Sophie is in survival mode. She’s worried that the ‘sad girl’ fiction that she loves so dearly will soon resemble her own reality. That is, until author Lilac Dunne walks into her life.

Sophie rediscovers her love for Lilac’s writing through a gifted ARC from her friends who run the local bookshop. It was quite trippy reading an ARC about someone reading an ARC! As Sophie reads, her obsession with the author grows and grows, until Sophie can think of nothing else…

I’ve not read Meg Mason’s work before, and so I’m not used to her style, but I really enjoyed its stop-and-start nature. I absolutely felt like I was there with Sophie, experiencing all her interweaving moments of embarrassment, obsession and growth right alongside her. There’s a perfect balance of funny, unsettling and heartwarming in this book, just like in Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

Also, I loved the inclusion of a barrage of real-life authors in this book. It must have been a rights & permissions nightmare, but it’s worth it for such amazing one-liners as: ‘treating the fact that he was also gay and Scottish like an automatic ticket to dinner with Douglas Stuart’.

On a more literary note, the author name-dropping also adds a realistic layer to the book, making Sophie relatable, as well as making it all the more hard-hitting that for a large chunk of the book, Sophie calls Lilac Dunne ‘the author’ and not her actual name. The author’s ghostly presence haunts the narrative and Sophie’s thoughts in equal measure.

And now, to avoid spoiling a wonderful and page-turning read, I will say no more! (Except that the ending is perfect.) Read this book if you enjoy a female protagonist with ample quirks, dry wit, and who knows who she is but not yet what she deserves.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bloomsbury and Meg Mason for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Meg Mason really knows how to get inside the heads of women having very particular kinds of breakdowns. I'm not sure I've ever read a book about a parasocial relationship with a celebrity (well, author, in this case), which is surprising because I'm sure it's more common than the average person thinks.

Really, this is a book of two halves. The first half follows Sophie as she spirals, consumed by a grief that is in one instant devastating and the next sedating. The only thing that gets her through is revisiting the work of an author she has read before but is only now finding a deeper meaning in. The words feel different this time; they speak to Sophie in this moment of her life and offer comfort like nothing else can.

I think this really speaks to how having someone articulate what you are going through is so extremely powerful and important. At first, these books and this author are a lifesaver for Sophie, but it eventually becomes a dependency that Sophie cannot extricate herself from. She is so far inside her own head that she is living a separate reality.

The second half I won't spoil as I enjoyed being surprised by the directions it took. I will just say that Sophie's job is working at a local book festival and all her sadness and self-sabotage come to a head in the aftermath of that.

Mason has this fantastic way of writing intimate details that add richness to her characters and stories. Here, the story of the IKEA chairs, and the celebratory pizza which turns sour at thoughts of Paul. These elements brought Sophie to life and gave me so much sympathy for her.

It's been a few years since I read Sorrow and Bliss, but this is the great character work I remember. Sophie, Standing There is sad, moving, and occasionally funny, and it is also a wonderful celebration of many female authors (it is quite an amusing coincidence that I am reading this at the same time as Olive Kitteridge).

I will read whatever the author writes next.

[AMenagerieofWords Deb Coco · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story possesses the mind, beats the heart, steals the breath, until it is told.
Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason

I just looked back at my review of Meg Mason’s 2020 novel, Sorrow and Bliss and in it I said that her writing reminded me of Sally Rooney, so at least I am consistent!

Thank you Librofm and Harper Books for the audio edition of Sophie, Standing There - the narration is STELLAR. I’ll cut right to the chase — I loved this book. It’s a book lover’s story with a protagonist who I was cheering on, and not since Eleanor Oliphant do I remember a character whose pain felt so real. Meg Mason’s is a master of character development.

There are many shared qualities between Sophie and Eleanor and the more I recalled the storyline to Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine the more clear it became. Sophie is an intense reader and introvert who works for a literary festival and is in the wake of multiple life crises. She has withdrawn from her friends and instead, has developed a “para-social” bond with her favorite author. When a chance meeting at a work event affords her time with the author, Sophie’s world shifts.

This is a subtle and character driven story - it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But I almost guarantee that if you enjoy Sally Rooney (or read and vibed with E Oliphant) this will be right up your alley. The caveat would be that Sally Rooney often writes characters who just can’t get out of their own way and that is not the situation with Mason’s Sophie. She’s hiding significant pain and her accidental meeting with her beloved author forces her to confront and examine her life through someone else’s eyes.

This book is also a very interesting examination of how social media affects loneliness and can create a sense of intimacy that really doesn’t exist. I thought this was timely, a bit heartbreaking, and I loved the bookish asides. Side note - if you love Possession by A.S. Byatt, you’ll want to read until the end! But there are lots of literary bread crumbs that added to the appeal.

Sophie, Standing There will be on shelves 8/27 and I think it will be in a lot of Labor Day weekend beach bags.

[lucy black · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel about a reader called Sophie who works as a tech at a book festival. Her bookseller friend gives her a galley of a novelists book and Sophie forms a para-social relationship with the novelist. This is one of the bookiest books ever. It’s scattered throughout with novelists, novels and book references. Reading the galley and unreeling the layers of characters and identity was a strange experience.

Meg Mason has caught the main character Sophie at a low point in her life, she is recently separated from an unhappy marriage, she feels like life has passed her by and she’s broke, she’s living in her ex husband’s yucky rental. The unnamed city seems drab and half-arsed through Sophie’s unhappy gaze.

The reader is meant to really like Sophie and other reviewers have said they do but there’s a touch of the unreliable about our narrator. She’s put in all these sad and humiliating situations so of course the reader feels for Sophie, she’s a bookworm and a kind person but maybe she’s a little bit spineless and a little bit mean too? People walk over Sophie and she likes to be a martyr or doesn’t have the self confidence to stop it but there are a few signs she’s not nice too, maybe she doesn’t know it? Does Mason? Her treatment of Jo was weird, Her judgement of Emma’s reading and the way she mentions more than once how HUGE her colleagues size 16 leggings are on her all seemed a bit nasty but nasty in a realistic way.

The plot picks up speed and gets really fascinating and weird when the famous novelist enters the picture and she’s a massive bitch and odd ball and Sophie has to stagger along in her wake. Mason writes some really uncomfortable scenes really well, she’s amazing at dialogue and scene setting. The relationships between Sophie and those close to her were so lovely and it’s nice to have some easy, kind people in the mix. The end peters out a little bit but it also fits the novel really well. The whole thing feels like a slice of life, a realistically flawed and absurd part of one woman’s life.

[Nailya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meg Mason writes very compelling commercial women's fiction. Sorrow and Bliss suffered a bit from the hot mess millennial woman syndrome, but also managed to deliver a sympathetic portrayal of mental health struggles. In Sophie, Standing There, Mason revisits some of these themes telling the story of Sophie, a recently divorced woman in her late 30s who works in the book industry as an event technician and who is struggling to navigate her life. She becomes obsessed with a (female) author's writing, and soon this parasocial relationship develops into something different...

Mason writers her worlds very convincingly. Although there is little sense of specificity to the cultural and geographical context of this story (it could be set in any Anglophone city with a middling book scene), the world of literary events and the people who run them comes to life. The characters, though sometimes infuriating, also feel real. Mason's writing could easily descend into some sort of a middling class IKEA kitchen sink, but her warmth and kindness to her own creations makes her work more interesting than that. I was (standing) right there with Sophie, really feeling her emotions and sympathising with her issues. The epilogue and presence of Emma the friend, who we are told about but don't meet until the very end, reframes many of the things that happened to Sophie.

And yet, something about this book felt underdeveloped. The relationship with the Author was hinted to be deliberately meta, and I kept expecting some sort of a twist, just something a little bit less deliberately artificial (although I would have been very disappointed by a 'it was all a dream' resolution). Alas, Meg Mason is no Katie Kitamura, so the narrative is supposed to be taken at face value, and I did not find it particularly realistic. The big revelation about Sophie feels tacked on, and although it explains some of her behaviour, the core theme needed more space to be explored respectfully.

This book really reminded me of Death of a Bookseller, as focuses on a complex obsessive relationship of two women in the book world. It is a better book, and I enjoyed reading it, but it could have been more.