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

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, author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY *
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. * Ann Patchett, author of TOM LAKE and THE DUTCH HOUSE *
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 * Ann Napolitano, author of HELLO BEAUTIFUL and DEAR EDWARD *
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, author of SANDWICH and WRECK *
Praise for Sorrow and Bliss: "It is impossible to read this novel and not be moved. It is also impossible not to laugh out loud ... Extraordinary * Guardian *
A raucously funny, beautifully written, emotion-bashing book * The Times *

Meg Mason is the author of You Be Mother and Sorrow and Bliss, which became an international bestseller after it was published in 2021. Winner of the British Book Industry Book of the Year, and shortlisted for the Women’s Prize, it has since been translated into twenty-five languages. Her first career was in journalism, beginning at The Times of London, and later writing for Vogue, Elle, GQ, and humour for 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 in 2026.