Show Notes
Meg Mason joins Tom’s Book Club to talk about her new novel, Sophie, Standing There a funny, candid and bittersweet story about loneliness, friendship, obsession and the unexpected ways we find connection. Meg is the author of the international bestseller Sorrow and Bliss, and in this conversation she discusses the creation of Sophie Pattison, a kind and deeply lonely woman whose life begins to change when she rediscovers the work of an author she hasn't read in years. We talk about loneliness and Meg’s own experiences of it, the emotional power of books and podcasts, and the parasocial relationships we can develop with writers we’ve never met. We also explore the world of book festivals and literary events, including the real authors who appear in the novel, Meg’s experiences of the publishing and literary world, and the inspiration behind some of the book’s funniest moments. 📚 Buy books discussed on the podcast through the Tom’s Book Club Bookshop.org page: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/TomsBookClub
Tom’s Book Club may earn a small commission from purchases made through our Bookshop.org link, at no extra cost to you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Tom's Book Club
Luke Kennard joins Tom’s Book Club to discuss Black Bag, his offbeat novel shortlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize. A penniless actor takes a job wearing an oversized black bag as part of a university experiment, with unexpected consequences for love, friendship and the possibility of turning the whole thing into a business.
Roddy Doyle joins Tom’s Book Club to talk about A Ghostly Little Book, a new collection of contemporary ghost stories from five acclaimed writers.
Hernan Diaz joins Tom’s Book Club to talk about Ply, his new novel set centuries in the future. Diaz is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Trust, which won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
John Boyne joins Tom’s Book Club to talk about his new novel, The Weight of Angels, an imaginative reworking of the life of Oscar Wilde that asks what might have happened if Wilde had made a different decision at a crucial moment in his life.
Louise Kennedy joins Tom’s Book Club to talk about her new novel, Stations, a powerful story of friendship, love, family and the long shadows cast by the choices we make when we are young.