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Sophie, Standing There
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Sophie, Standing There

By: Meg Mason
Narrated by: Katherine Parkinson
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From the award-winning, bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss comes an achingly tender, poignant, funny and bittersweet new novel

'So smart, so funny, so moving. I absolutely loved it' Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry

'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, bestselling author of Tom Lake and The Dutch House
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Sophie Pattison is a lovely person – warm, kind, relentlessly positive. She's cherished by her brother Laurie, adored by her best friend Emma and valued by her colleagues. Sometimes, it’s true, one day in her life can feel like the entire month of January. It’s also true she can go an entire day without speaking. But she's fine really. She spends her time alone reading, finding comfort in the pages of the books she devours.

Until one day she stumbles upon an author she hasn’t read in years. Her books, interviews and podcasts soon become a lifeline; every word is a solace, company she hasn't felt in so long. It's almost like love.

A lot like love. And Sophie would love to meet the author, although she never will obviously. In a way, thank goodness, because that would change everything. Sophie's entire life. Wouldn’t it?

Hilariously candid and raw, Sophie, Standing There is a bittersweet story of love, loneliness and finding connection in the most unlikely of places.
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'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... Dazzling' Catherine Newman, bestselling author of Wreck and Sandwich

'I loved Sophie, and I love Meg Mason’s brain and the strange, wonderful, funny stories she gives us' Ann Napolitano, bestselling author of Hello, Beautiful and Dear Edward©2026 The Printed Page Pty Ltd (P)2026 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Friendship Genre Fiction Literary Fiction
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Critic reviews

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
Sophie, Standing There is 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.
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 — about her marriage, her childhood, the gaps in her understanding — 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
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
Heartwarming, tender and so funny, Sophie, Standing There is a wonderful, bittersweet story of what it means to be truly, achingly lonely. I loved it
A funny, poignant, quirky look at the entrancing nature of a parasocial relationship. I love Meg Mason’s sharpness and humour, she is the queen of the pithy one liner that stops you in your tracks
Truly inspired and original
Meg Mason is back with another introspective, heartfelt read
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