Meg Mason’s latest novel explores the mechanics of literary infatuation
The follow-up to Sorrow and Bliss traces a tech worker’s obsession with a famous author, blending wit with a critique of parasocial dynamics.
Meg Mason’s new novel, Sophie, Standing There, has been reviewed by The Guardian as a witty and touching exploration of infatuation within the literary world. The narrative follows Sophie, a tech worker at literary festivals, who becomes obsessed with famous author Lilac Dunne after a breakup. This work serves as the follow-up to Mason’s acclaimed 2020 tragicomedy, Sorrow and Bliss.
The protagonist is depicted as an invisible figure in the industry, responsible for technical duties such as managing microphone cables during events. The opening pages feature cameos of real writers, including George Saunders, Ann Patchett, Mick Herron, and Elizabeth Strout, set against Sophie’s personal decline following a callous separation from her husband. She is left living alone in a dingy rental flat, surrounded by stored books and a sense of isolation.
Mason’s prose is described as capturing the wavering movements of thought with less fuss and more laughs than Virginia Woolf. Sophie is aware of her literary analogues, referencing characters such as Eleanor Oliphant from Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, while navigating the small joys and routine humiliations of everyday life. The review notes Mason’s ability to balance pathos with bathos, highlighting the intense yet mundane nature of Sophie’s existence.
The plot is driven by a parasocial relationship as Sophie becomes fixated on Lilac Dunne, rereading her books and listening to her podcasts. The fantasy collides with reality when Lilac is booked to appear at an event, leading to encounters that complicate Sophie’s infatuation with the author’s public persona. The review describes the narrative as a Bridget Jones-meets-Pirandello caper, with Mason displaying a knowing, metafictional approach to the story.
However, the review identifies a fault in the characterisation of Lilac Dunne, who lacks the psychological complexity and vulnerability displayed in other aspects of the novel. She is described as more deus ex machina than a fully realised character, appearing harder and more ruthless than her public image suggests. Despite this, the novel is praised as a continuously humorous and touching story that ends with a postmodern reflection on its own construction.