The new novel from the bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss · Indian subcontinent edition
Sophie Pattison is a lovely person. Kind, friendly, relentlessly positive.
She has a best friend, a brother she adores, colleagues at the literary festival where she works, and the joy of reading. So much to be grateful for. And it's just as well nobody knows that lately her life has felt like a slow suffocation of misery and loneliness. Only Sophie knows that.
Scrolling one night, she rediscovers an author she read once, years ago. This time the words reach her as nothing ever has. Every line is a comfort; every page seems to be Sophie's own story. She devours the novels in days, then the interviews, then the podcasts, until the author starts to feel like a friend. It's almost like love.
Now Sophie dreams of meeting her. She never will, of course — the author is far too famous to come to Sophie's festival. Which is, in a way, a relief. Because what would you say to someone you love who doesn't know you're alive?
Tender, bittersweet and very funny, this is a novel about loneliness, obsession and finding connection in the least likely place. Ann Patchett calls it heartbreaking, hilarious and deeply hopeful; Bonnie Garmus says she absolutely loved it.
About the author
Meg Mason is the author of the international bestseller Sorrow and Bliss and the novel You Be Mother. A former journalist, she was born in New Zealand and lives in Sydney.
Edition details
- Bloomsbury paperback, 352 pages
- For sale in the Indian subcontinent only
- Published August 2026
