SOPHIE, STANDING THERE

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 and Murmurs. Born in New Zealand, she lives in Sydney with her husband and two daughters.

“So smart, so funny, so moving. Mason has done it again, this time using the behind-the-scenes mechanics at a literary festival to reveal the complexity of loneliness and how one woman attempts to dig herself out. I absolutely loved it.” —Bonnie Garmus, New York Times bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry

“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, New York Times bestselling 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, New York Times bestselling author of Wreck and Sandwich

“Deeply witty and hard to put down, Sophie, Standing There is a piercing, achingly human novel about the enormous courage required to step out of the wings and into your own life.” —Booklist (starred review)

“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, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Whistler and Bel Canto

“Mason’s third novel, centered on an endearingly self-doubting woman, is filled with wry insights into the backstage world of book festivals and their famous authors. It is a special treat for book lovers.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“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.” —Gillian Anderson

“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.” —Emma Gannon, author of Olive and Table for One

“Smart and heartwarming . . . [A] moving tale of a book lover’s search for her own happy ending.” —Publishers Weekly

“Truly inspired and original.” —Esther Freud, author of Love Falls and My Sister and Other Lovers

“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.” —Barbara Trapido, author of Brother of the More Famous Jack

“It’s 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.” —Georgia Pritchett, author of My Mess is a Bit of a Life

“Perfect for Sally Rooney and Naoise Dolan fans who revel in moments of sorrow and bliss.” —Kirkus

“Continuously witty and touching.” —The Guardian

“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.” —Jojo Moyes, New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You and The Giver of Stars

“Sophie, Standing There shows the pleasures—and perils—of dreams becoming reality; but also gives us a heroine who discovers she can, and always could, stand on her own two feet, outside the world of her imagination.” —Harper’s Bazaar UK

“Sophie, Standing There is bittersweet, its precise notes of humour and joy delivered from under a veil of persistent melancholy. Genuinely uplifting books for intelligent readers are rare, and this is one of them.” —Sydney Morning Herald

1. Sophie’s obsession with Lilac begins at one of the lowest points in her life. What do you think she is really looking for in Lilac—and why does Lilac’s work affect her so intensely?

2. When Sophie is unexpectedly put in charge of the festival, she thrives—and her coworkers respond positively to her leadership. What does this period reveal about Sophie that she seems unable to see in herself?

3. When the previous festival manager returns and Sophie is abruptly pushed back into her old role, she barely protests. Why do you think Sophie has such difficulty standing up for herself, even after proving how capable she is?

4. Some of the most consequential parts of Sophie’s past—her childhood in the sect, her relationship with Adam, his death, and the end of IVF—are revealed only as Sophie tells Lilac about them. Why do you think Sophie is able to disclose these parts of herself to someone she barely knows when she has become so disconnected from the people closest to her?

5. Sophie’s childhood in the sect is one of the most surprising revelations in the novel, particularly because she remembers it so fondly. How did learning about her upbringing change the way you understood Sophie and the person she has become?

6. Lilac is eager to use Sophie’s childhood to inform her own novel, but Sophie resists the idea that growing up in a sect is necessarily a story of trauma or escape. What did you make of the difference between the story Lilac wants to tell and Sophie’s own experience?

7. Paul ends their marriage with the devastatingly casual line, “I’d love you not to live here anymore.” As more of their history is revealed, how did your understanding of their marriage change?

8. Paul had spent much of his life feeling responsible for Adam, while Sophie came into their marriage after an unusually sheltered upbringing. How do you think those two histories shaped Paul and Sophie’s relationship?

9. Sophie repeatedly seems to pull away from possibilities for happiness, particularly when it comes to Fraser. Why do you think moving forward is so difficult for her?

10. Sophie finally refuses to take Lilac back to the sect where she grew up. Why is that refusal such an important moment for her? Did you see it as a turning point in Sophie’s ability to set boundaries and claim her own story?

11. What do you think Lilac really wants from Sophie? Is there genuine affection or connection there that makes Lilac pull away when they get too close, or is her interest in Sophie ultimately self-serving?

12. Emma ultimately helps Sophie see her experience with Lilac—and herself—more clearly. By the end of the novel, do you think Sophie has genuinely begun to change? What did you make of the possibly hypothetical glimpse of a future with Fraser?