As I loved Sorrow and Bliss, I was very keen to read this new novel. I pre-ordered it in paper, and then also bought a kindle version (I am finding it easier to read on my Boox as I can fit it easily into my handbag and therefore take my book with me everywhere).
Here’s the blurb ..,
Sophie Lockwood 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. But she is deeply lonely.
Her marriage is over. She’s moved out of the home she shared with her now ex-husband and all she has in the fridge is two eggs and sliced bread in the freezer. Sometimes one day in her life can feel like the entire month of January. But she’s fine.
She spends her time reading, finding comfort in the pages of the books she devours. Until one day she stumbles upon an author she’s never read before – Lilac Dunne. Her books, interviews and podcasts soon become a lifeline; every word is solace, company she hasn’t felt in so long. It’s almost like love.
Love at first read. And Sophie would love to meet her, although she never will obviously. In a way, thank goodness, because that would change everything. Sophie’s entire life.
Hilariously candid and raw, Sophie, Standing There is a bittersweet story of love, loneliness and finding connection in the most unlikely of places.
I watched a podcast, where Meg Mason described Sophie as a happy person. And I thought, ‘gosh that’s not how I would describe her’. When we first meet Sophie things are pretty miserable – she has separated from her husband, and is living in his dingy investment property (paying a peppercorn rent – why isn’t it also her investment property?). She has a job she loves, but it is not well-paid, and she is lonely (for some reason she is no longer contacting her best friend Emma).
However, Sophie is a fabulous character – kind, competent, and thoughtful. The writing is beautiful, it felt like I was inside the terrible flat or the dodgy restaurant across the road. Some of the characters were suitably awful in their selfish disregard for anyone else. Laurie, her brother, was lovely, and their backstory was intriguing.
The action in this book is ordinary and I mean that in a positive way – we could all be Sophie. Getting through each day, doing the best we can, and hoping for something better.
For all of us readers, this novel is also about reading, and the relationship between the reader and the author, and finding that connection with someone else who loves the same novel that you do.
This is one of my favourite books of the year.