Meg Mason

A sharp and funny reflection on obsession and loneliness from the award-winning author of Sorrow and Bliss

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.

Todo el mundo dice que Martha Friel es inteligente y bella, una escritora brillante a la que siempre ha amado durante su vida adulta un hombre, Patrick, su marido. Un regalo que seg n su madre no todo el mundo tiene. Entonces, por qu todo est roto? Por qu Martha, a punto de cumplir 40, no tiene amigos, salta de trabajo basura a trabajo basura y est siempre triste? Y por qu Patrick se ha ido? A lo mejor es demasiado sensible, alguien que encuentra, mucho m s que la mayor a, que es muy dif cil estar vivo. O, a lo mejor (lo que siempre ha cre do ella), que algo no funciona dentro de ella. Algo que se rompi en su cabeza cuando ten a 17 y la cambi de tal manera que ning n m dico, terapia o droga ha conseguido ni explicar ni solucionar. Obligada a vivir de nuevo con sus bohemios y disfuncionales padres en el hogar de su infancia en un pintoresco barrio londinense pero sin la inestimable y devota ayuda de su hermana Ingrid, Martha tiene una ltima oportunidad: o aceptar que su vida est demasiado rota como para arreglarla o, a lo mejor, empezar de nuevo y escribir un mejor final para su vida.

EVENING STANDARD'S 'BEST FICTION BOOKS TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2022'WHat do you do, when you find the perfect family......and it's not yours?'Rare and delightful . . . A beautifully crafted novel about female relationships. I couldn't put this book down'Marie ClaireThe only thing Abi ever wanted was a proper family. So when she falls pregnant by an Australian exchange student in London, she cannot pack up her old life in Croydon fast enough, to start all over in Sydney and make her own family. It is not until she arrives, with three-week-old Jude in tow, that Abi realises Stu is not quite ready to be a father after all. And he is the only person she knows in this hot, dazzling, confusing city, where the job of making friends is turning out to be harder than she thought. That is, until she meets Phyllida, her wealthy, charming, imperious older neighbour, and they become almost like mother and daughter. If only Abi had not told Phil that teeny tiny small lie, the very first day they met...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTIONTHE BOOK EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT'Just read it. It's unforgettable'India Knight, The Sunday Times'It is impossible to read this novel and not be moved. It is also impossible not to laugh out loud... Extraordinary'Guardian'Full of snappy one-liners but, at the same time, remarkably poignant'Craig Brown 'Probably the best book you'll read this year'Mail on Sunday'Completely brilliant. I think every girl and woman should read it'Gillian Anderson'Exactly the book to read right now, when you need a laugh, but want to cry'Observer'The most wonderful, heartbreakingly gorgeous novel of the year'Elizabeth Day, author of Magpie'A raucously funny, beautifully written, emotion-bashing book'The Times'I was making a list of all the people I wanted to send it to, until I realised that I wanted to send it to everyone I know'Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House 'One of those "read it in one sitting and tell all your friends" kind of books'Evening Standard'Patrick Melrose meets Fleabag. Brilliant'Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures Everyone tells Martha Friel she is clever and beautiful, a brilliant writer who has been loved every day of her adult life by one man, her husband Patrick. A gift, her mother once said, not everybody gets. So why is everything broken? Why is Martha - on the edge of 40 - friendless, practically jobless and so often sad? And why did Patrick decide to leave? Maybe she is just too sensitive, someone who finds it harder to be alive than most people. Or maybe - as she has long believed - there is something wrong with her. Something that broke when a little bomb went off in her brain, at 17, and left her changed in a way that no doctor or therapist has ever been able to explain. Forced to return to her childhood home to live with her dysfunctional, bohemian parents (but without the help of her devoted, foul-mouthed sister Ingrid), Martha has one last chance to find out whether a life is ever too broken to fix - or whether, maybe, by starting over, she will get to write a better ending for herself. THE BOOK OF THE YEAR An instant Sunday Times bestseller and a book of the year for the Times and Sunday Times, Guardian, Observer, Independent, Mail on Sunday, Evening Standard, Spectator, Daily Express, Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Irish Daily Mail, Metro, Critic, Sydney Morning Herald, Los Angeles Times, Stylist, Red and Good Housekeeping

Winner of the Book of the Year (Fiction) at the British Book Awards Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction"Brilliantly faceted and extremely funny. . . . While I was reading it, I was making a list of all the people I wanted to send it to, until I realized that I wanted to send it to everyone I know." -- Ann PatchettThe internationally bestselling, compulsively readable novel--spiky, sharp, intriguingly dark, and tender--that combines the psychological insight of Sally Rooney with the sharp humor of Nina Stibbe and the emotional resonance of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. Martha Friel just turned forty. She used to work at Vogue and was going to write a novel. Now, she creates internet content for no one. She used to live in Paris. Now, she lives in a gated community in Oxford that she hates and can't bear to leave. But she must now that her loving husband Patrick has just left. Because there's something wrong with Martha. There has been since a little bomb went off in her brain, at seventeen, leaving her changed in a way no doctor or drug could fix then and no one, even now, can explain--why can say she is so often sad, cruel to everyone she loves, why she finds it harder to be alive than other people. With Patrick gone, the only place Martha has left to go is her childhood home, to live with her chaotic parents, to survive without Ingrid, the sister who made their growing-up bearable, who said she would never give up on Martha, and who finally has. It feels like the end but maybe, by going back, Martha will get to start again. Maybe there is a different story to be written, if Martha can work out where to begin.

Sorgen lyckan livet är en berättelse om livet, kärleken och äktenskapet, om att förändras och börja om från början. En gripande roman skriven med ömhet, raseri, humor och stor insikt. Martha vet att något är fel med henne, men hon vet inte vad. Hennes man Patrick är övertygad om att allt är bra. Alla människor har sina konstigheter, säger han. Knepet är att inte stanna upp, att bara fortsätta leva. Innan de gifte sig - för åtta år sedan - sa Martha att hon inte ville ha barn. Han sa att det var okej. Han hade ju älskat henne sedan han var fjorton och allt han ville var att göra henne lycklig. Även om han inte har lyckats med det. När Martha äntligen får veta vad som är fel spelar inget längre någon roll. Det är för sent att få det enda hon någonsin önskat sig. Men kanske är det inte så enkelt. Kanske kan man sluta älska en person - och sedan börja om från början igen?" Så varm, mänsklig, rolig och klok att den tar sig in i hjärtats innersta rum! Jag måste bara älska en huvudperson som är djupt olycklig - och ändå lyckas se på livet med glimten i ögat. Sorgen lyckan livet är en roman som framkallar både skratt och tårar, och är lätt att känna igen sig i för alla som har en någorlunda känslig själ." Helena Pettersson, redaktionsansvarig för Månadens Bok"En bok du kommer att vilja sluka i ett enda andetag ... en vuxen coming-of-age-berättelse, skriven med stor kraft och en känsla av andlöshet. Att läsa den känns som att dela förtroligheter med en nära vän ... Vass, vågad och underhållande från första till sista sidan." Saturday Paper"Det här är en kärleksberättelse, men en verklig sådan ... lika förkrossande, vass och smart som Fleabag." Books + Publishing"En triumf. En brutal, dråplig och medkännande triumf." Allison Bell, författareMeg Mason är skribent och författare och skriver bland annat för Vogue, Elle och Marie Claire. Hon har även medverkat i tidningar som Financial Times, Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph och Sydney Morning Herald. Mason debuterade 2012 med Say it again in a nice voice, en memoarbok om moderskap, och utkom 2017 med sin debutroman, You be mother. Hon bor i Sydney med sin man och två döttrar.

"Veitsenterävä tutkimusmatka mielenterveyteen ja identiteettiin. Hulvaton ja sydäntäsärkevä." COSMOPOLITANKansainvälinen myyntimenestysromaani on tragikoominen ja oivaltava kuvaus siitä, millaista on elää mielenterveytensä riepoteltavana, olla sosiaalisten piiriensä musta lammas ja yrittää päästä jäljille siitä, missä oikein mättää. Martha on täyttänyt hiljattain neljäkymmentä, ja hänen huolehtiva, häntä 14-vuotiaasta asti rakastanut miehensä on juuri muuttanut pois. Ulottumattomiin tuntuvat lipuvan myös urahaaveet ja ylipäätään hyvä elämä. Marthassa on ollut jotain vialla jo pitkään, ja hän alkaa viimein ymmärtää, mitä ja miksi. Jos tarinan aloittaa alusta, ehkä sille voi kirjoittaa onnellisemman lopun? Murhe ja autuus valittiin Women's Prize for Fiction -ehdokkaaksi, ja se on saanut ylistävät arviot.” Marthan nokkela ja kaunistelematon, tunnetasolla vaikuttava tarina saa Sally Rooneyn fanit ihastuksiin.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, tähtiarvio

Højtryk og lavtryk er en kærlighedsroman, en sædekomedie, en coming-of-age for voksne om dysfunktionelle familier, venskab, psykisk sygdom og om at starte forfra to sekunder før det er for sent. Der er noget galt med Martha, og det har der været længe. Da hun var sytten eksploderede en lille bombe i hendes hjerne, og eft er utallige lægebesøg, uendelig meget terapi og alverdens medicin ved hun stadig ikke, hvorfor det kan tage hende en hel dag at komme ud af sengen, eller hvorfor hun støder både vildfremmede og sine nærmeste fra sig. Engang arbejdede hun for Vogue og drømte om at skrive en roman. Nu producerer hun indhold til et website, hun foragter. Engang boede hun i en taglejlighed i Paris. Nu bor hun i Oxford på en lukket villavej i et hus, hun ikke kan fordrage, men som hun ikke magter at flytte fra. Men det er hun nødt til, især nu hvor hendes mand Patrick – søde Patrick, der aldrig har ønsket andet end at gøre hende lykkelig – har forladt hende. Martha har ingen steder at tage hen, bortset fra barndomshjemmet – et bohemeagtigt (læs: faldefærdigt) byhus i en autentisk (læs: nedslidt) del af London – for at bo med sine forældre og prøve på at overleve uden sin elskede søster, som er den eneste, der altid har kunnet gøre tilværelsens kaos udholdelig for Martha, og som nu enten har for travlt eller bare har fået nok. Men måske kan Martha skrive en bedre slutning for sig selv ved at starte forfra – måske er hun alligevel ikke helt færdig.

En gang i tiden jobbet Martha Friel i Vogue og hadde tenkt å skrive bok. Nå produserer hun innhold til Internett. Hun pleide å bo en pied-à-terre i Paris. Nå bor hun i et inngjerdet nabolag i Oxford, den eneste der uten doktorgrad, baby eller begge, i et hus hun ikke kan fordra, men ikke klarer å reise fra. Men hun må dra, spesielt nå som ektemannen, den typen som lager mat, organiserer bursdagsfester for henne, elsker henne og aldri har ønsket annet enn å gjøre henne lykkelig, har flyttet ut. Det er noe galt med Martha, og det har det vært lenge. Da hun var sytten eksploderte en liten bombe inni hjernen hennes, og hun ble aldri den samme igjen. Men selv etter utallige leger, endeløs terapi og alle mulige medisiner, vet hun fremdeles ikke hva som er galt. Hvorfor hun bruker en hel dag på å komme seg ut av sengen, eller frastøter seg både fremmede og nære og kjære med stygge slengbemerkninger.

Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction "Brilliantly faceted and extremely funny. . . . While I was reading it, I was making a list of all the people I wanted to send it to, until I realized that I wanted to send it to everyone I know." -- Ann PatchettThe internationally bestselling sensation, a compulsively readable novel--spiky, sharp, intriguingly dark, and tender--that Emma Straub has named one of her favorite books of the yearMartha Friel just turned forty. Once, she worked at Vogue and planned to write a novel. Now, she creates internet content. She used to live in a pied- -terre in Paris. Now she lives in a gated community in Oxford, the only person she knows without a PhD, a baby or both, in a house she hates but cannot bear to leave. But she must leave, now that her husband Patrick--the kind who cooks, throws her birthday parties, who loves her and has only ever wanted her to be happy--has just moved out. Because there's something wrong with Martha, and has been for a long time. When she was seventeen, a little bomb went off in her brain and she was never the same. But countless doctors, endless therapy, every kind of drug later, she still doesn't know what's wrong, why she spends days unable to get out of bed or alienates both strangers and her loved ones with casually cruel remarks. And she has nowhere to go except her childhood home: a bohemian (dilapidated) townhouse in a romantic (rundown) part of London--to live with her mother, a minorly important sculptor (and major drinker) and her father, a famous poet (though unpublished) and try to survive without the devoted, potty-mouthed sister who made all the chaos bearable back then, and is now too busy or too fed up to deal with her. But maybe, by starting over, Martha will get to write a better ending for herself--and she'll find out that she's not quite finished after all.