Sophie, Standing There

From the bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss

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Sophie, Standing There

By: Meg Mason

Narrated by: Katherine Parkinson

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Bloomsbury presents Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason, read by Katherine Parkinson.

A sharp, funny and achingly tender story of obsession and loneliness from the award-winning, bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss

'So smart, so funny, so moving. I absolutely loved it' BONNIE GARMUS
'Heartbreaking, hilarious, and deeply hopeful. Mason is a dazzling talent' ANN PATCHETT
'Mason is brilliant ... A witty story of infatuation set in the literary world' GUARDIAN
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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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'Heartwarming, tender and so funny ... Wonderful' GILLIAN ANDERSON
'I love Meg Mason’s brain and the strange, wonderful, funny stories she gives us' ANN NAPOLITANO©2026 The Printed Page Pty Ltd (P)2026 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Meg MasonKatherine ParkinsonBloomsbury Publishing

Friendship

Genre Fiction

Literary Fiction

Funny

Witty

Friendship Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Funny Witty

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

I feel like I know Meg Mason’s characters; they are relatable enough to be universal, but always have that edge or quirk that makes them unexpected - and completely compelling. Anyone who can make me sigh wistfully and snort with laughter in the same paragraph has my literary loyalty for life

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

It's raw, it's massively sad; it's hilariously funny and so epigrammatic that after writing down the novel’s pithily astute phrases, I realised I was almost writing out the whole book

Sophie, Standing There explores the layers of longing that mirror the deep, quiet ache of a life spent searching for a home that always feels just out of reach — a displacement where the only constant is the act of looking itself

So beautifully written and Sophie’s unexquisite world is described so exquisitely. I absolutely lived and breathed Sophie. Such a tender, funny, sad, moving, complicated, painful and yet hopeful book

A witty story of infatuation set in the literary world ... Mason is brilliant (Sam Leith)

Meg Mason is back with another introspective, heartfelt read

Most relevant

The combination of the words and the narration are perfect. It’s a very gentle listen. I’m a little bit in love with Sophie now.