Five years after the publication of her darkly funny and touching bestseller ‘Sorrow and Bliss’, Meg Mason turns her attention to loneliness and literary obsession in ‘Sophie, Standing There’. The New Zealand author talks to Annabel Nugent about navigating reader expectations, why parasocial relationships aren’t all bad, and the real-life writers who inspired some of the hilarious moments in her new novel

Sophie Pattison, 37, is not in a good place: heartbroken, childless, mid-divorce from ‘arsehole’ Paul, with her self-esteem and bank balance low. As her best friend Emma says:…

Five years after the publication of her darkly funny and touching bestseller ‘Sorrow and Bliss’, Meg Mason turns her attention to loneliness and literary obsession in ‘Sophie,…