{"title":"Meg Mason","description":"\u003cp\u003eMeg Mason is an acclaimed author known for her witty and insightful explorations of life, family, and personal challenges. With a keen eye for capturing the essence of everyday experiences, her works resonate with readers who appreciate both humour and depth in storytelling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHer memoir, \u003cem\u003eSay It Again in a Nice Voice\u003c\/em\u003e, provides a humorous and candid take on the adventures and misadventures of motherhood. It's a delightful read that echoes the relatable chaos of balancing family life while maintaining one's own identity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the realm of fiction, Meg Mason shines with her novel \u003cem\u003eSorrow and Bliss\u003c\/em\u003e. This extraordinary bestseller was shortlisted for the 2022 Women's Prize for Fiction and continues to capture hearts across the globe. It's a beautiful yet poignant exploration of mental health, relationships, and self-discovery, told with sensitivity and sharp wit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnother gem in her literary collection is \u003cem\u003eYou Be Mother\u003c\/em\u003e, a charming narrative about the trials and triumphs of family and friendship. Known for her deft storytelling, Meg Mason crafts characters and scenarios that linger in the reader's mind long after the book is closed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor those seeking stories with a balance of realism and charm, the works of Meg Mason are an exceptional choice. Dive into her books for an engaging narrative journey that masterfully combines emotion, humour, and insight.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"sorrow-and-bliss","title":"Sorrow and Bliss","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSpiky, sharp, intriguingly dark and tender, full of pathos, fury and wit, \u003cem\u003eSorrow and Bliss\u003c\/em\u003e by Meg Mason is a dazzling, distinctive novel from a boldly talented writer – now an instant \u003cem\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestseller and shortlisted for the Women's Prize.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eSorrow and Bliss\u003c\/em\u003e is a brilliantly faceted and extremely funny book about depression that engulfed me in the way I'm always hoping to be engulfed by novels. While I was reading it, 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, New York Times bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eCommonwealth\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'As soon as I finished Mason's tragically funny debut novel, I gave it to a friend, bookmark and all. I have a feeling my much-underlined paperback has changed hands a dozen times by now; \u003cem\u003eSorrow and Bliss\u003c\/em\u003e is too good to hang on to... Mason navigates [Martha's challenges] with dark charm.' \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'I am adding \u003cem\u003eSorrow and Bliss\u003c\/em\u003e to my list of the best novels of 2020.' \u003cem\u003eThe Australian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Both fantastically dark and almost unbearably funny... its beautifully understated, airy style conceals the fiercest intelligence. I loved it so much that I stalked the author on social media - a first. Just read it. It's unforgettable.' India Knight, \u003cem\u003eThe Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Such a good book and so richly warrants the \u003cem\u003eFleabag\u003c\/em\u003e reference... So funny, so devastating, it's really spiky and completely compelling, I absolutely loved it' Annabel Crabb\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis novel is about a woman called Martha. She knows there is something wrong with her but she doesn't know what it is. Her husband Patrick thinks she is fine. He says everyone has something, the thing is just to keep going.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMartha told Patrick before they got married that she didn't want to have children. He said he didn't mind either way because he has loved her since he was fourteen and making her happy is all that matters, although he does not seem able to do it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBy the time Martha finds out what is wrong, it doesn't really matter anymore. It is too late to get the only thing she has ever wanted. Or maybe it will turn out that you can stop loving someone and start again from nothing – if you can find something else to want.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe book is set in London and Oxford. It is sad and funny.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 JANN MEDLICOTT ACORN PRIZE FOR FICTION in the NZ BOOK AWARDS\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Gloriously tender and absorbing... It is impossible to read this novel and not be moved. It is also impossible not to laugh out loud... Mason pulls off something extraordinary in this huge-hearted novel, alchemising an unbearable anguish into something tender and hilarious and redemptive and wise, without ever undermining its gravity or diminishing its pain.' \u003cem\u003eThe Guardian UK\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Compulsively readable, \u003cem\u003eSorrow and Bliss\u003c\/em\u003e is one of the funniest books I've read... It is tempting to compare Martha to other tragicomic greats, \u003cem\u003eFleabag\u003c\/em\u003e in particular. But Martha is such a brilliant, singular creation... that it is more interesting to imagine not the characters that have inspired her but the ones she will inspire.' \u003cem\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'This is a romance, true, but a real one... as devastating and sharply witty as Phoebe Waller-Bridge's \u003cem\u003eFleabag\u003c\/em\u003e.' \u003cem\u003eBooks+Publishing\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A triumph. A brutal, hilarious, compassionate triumph.' Alison Bell, \u003cem\u003eThe Letdown\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A heartbreaking debut... simultaneously funny and sad – and aching. Witty and stark, Martha's emotionally affecting story will delight fans of Sally Rooney' \u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e starred review\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSorrow and Bliss\u003c\/em\u003e is a book you'll want to devour in one sitting... an adult coming-of-age novel told with force, breathlessness and a confessional style that makes you feel as if you're sharing intimacies with an old friend... Mason's writing has been compared to Phoebe Waller-Bridge's \u003cem\u003eFleabag\u003c\/em\u003e for good reason... fresh and revelatory... sharp, racy and entertaining throughout.' \u003cem\u003eThe Saturday Paper\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSharp yet humane, and jaw-droppingly funny, this is the kind of novel you will want to press into the hands of everyone you know.\u003c\/em\u003e Mason has an extraordinary talent for dialogue and character, and her understanding of how much poignancy a reader can take is profound. A masterclass on family, damage and the bonds of love: as soon as I finished it, I started again.' Jessie Burton, bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eThe Miniaturist\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Confession\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Sophisticated and often blackly funny' \u003cem\u003eSydney Morning Herald\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'I just adored this book. It's timely and dark and poignant and funny. It was filled with such eviscerating compassion and rage; I couldn't get enough of it. I inhaled it in a single weekend, unable to put it down. Meg Mason is a searing talent.' Kate Leaver, \u003cem\u003eThe Friendship Cure\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45686516908268,"sku":"9781460765234","price":23.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781460765234_c89deb97-15e5-4bb9-980a-6afd73b9bd45.jpg?v=1739244781"},{"product_id":"you-be-mother-by-meg-mason-9781460757796","title":"You Be Mother","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat do you do when you find the perfect family, and it's not yours? A charming, funny, and irresistible novel about families, friendship, and tiny little white lies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe 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...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eImagine the warmth of Monica McInerney, the excruciating awkwardness of \u003cem\u003eOffspring\u003c\/em\u003e and the wit of Liane Moriarty, all rolled into one delightful, warm, funny, and totally endearing novel about families – the ones we have, and the ones we want – and the stories we tell ourselves about them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRare and delightful ... a beautifully crafted novel about female relationships. I couldn't put this book down.\u003c\/em\u003e – Clare Press, Fashion Editor-at-large, Marie Claire\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003ci\u003eYou Be Mother\u003c\/i\u003e is the kind of book you pick up...and never want to put down ... you will fall in love with this book.\u003c\/em\u003e – Lauren Sams, author of \u003cem\u003eShe's Having Her Baby\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46172125659372,"sku":"9781460757796","price":23.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781460757796.jpg?v=1739245089"},{"product_id":"say-it-again-in-a-nice-voice-by-meg-mason-9780732297923","title":"Say It Again in a Nice Voice","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the author of the much-acclaimed novels \u003cem\u003eSorrow and Bliss\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eYou Be Mother\u003c\/em\u003e, Meg Mason, comes a hilarious and endearing memoir about first-time parenting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Achingly funny.' \u003cem\u003eBetter Homes and Gardens\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'It's a fair bet to suggest that \u003cem\u003eSay It Again in a Nice Voice\u003c\/em\u003e will resonate with a lot of mothers.' \u003cem\u003eSydney Morning Herald\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMothers, those women with purses the size of meat trays that hold an entire deck of school portrait photos and a chequebook, make a casserole without a recipe, make the tightest bed you'll ever sleep in and only swear under extreme duress. How, how, would I go from me to that?\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt 24, Meg Mason was newly married to a man 'essentially indistinguishable from a young Matt Damon' after landing her dream job, writing for \u003cem\u003eThe Times\u003c\/em\u003e in London. What could possibly go wrong? A holiday in Greece, an accidental shortage of birth control, and eight months later she was sobbing on the side of a road over trading her career for something she knew zip about.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn October 8, 2003, she invented motherhood by Having A Baby. On October 9, she discovered a bunch of women had done that already. But still, they couldn't tell her how to do it. Thanks to a helpful neighbour, she knew that convincing a newborn to take a bottle by letting it lick a Dorito first to 'get more thirsty' didn't always work, but not what to do when your child won't sleep for roughly two years in London or in Sydney, or how to remove your hand from a stroller - after you've superglued it to the handle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHair-raising, terrifying and hilariously funny, along the way she discovers that being a mother, however disaster-prone, just might be the only thing that she is truly irreplaceable at.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Meg Mason has a way of making the most mundane baby drama hilarious. \u003cem\u003eSay It Again in a Nice Voice\u003c\/em\u003e had me laughing out loud ... Hands down it would be hard to admit to as many 'new mother mistakes' as delightful, self-deprecating Meg.' \u003cem\u003eABC Radio\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Arotahi Agency","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46551304503532,"sku":"9780732297923","price":23.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/19765313482448.jpg?v=1750002256"},{"product_id":"sophie-standing-there-by-meg-mason-9781460760666","title":"Sophie, Standing There","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the award-winning, bestselling author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eSorrow and Bliss\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003ecomes an achingly tender, poignant, funny and bittersweet story of love, loneliness and finding connection in the most unlikely of places.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'So smart, so funny, so moving - Mason has done it again, this time using behind the scenes of a literary festival to reveal the complexity of loneliness and how one woman attempts to dig herself out. I absolutely loved it' Bonnie Garmus,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eLessons in Chemistry\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSophie Pattison is such a lovely person. Warm, kind, amazingly positive. She works as a freelance sound technician for literary festivals. She is a massive reader and was recently forced to moved house. She is bracingly lonely.\u003cstrong\u003e*\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eSo much so, the absence of others feels like a physical weight, if that makes sense. But then, Sophie discovers an author through work, and comes to adore her. Her books, her interviews, podcasts, and wisdom and brilliance, her beautiful words. It's like, solace and company. It's almost like love. And Sophie would love to meet her, although she never will, obviously. The author would never come to her festival. She's too famous for that. Too brilliant, too beautiful. And in a way, thank goodness, because that would change everything. Sophie's entire life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut ... what if she did?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e*\u003c\/strong\u003ealthough she has a best friend called Emma, and an amazing brother. And a husband. But a number of things happened there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePraise for\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSophie, Standing There\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'A moving examination of what it means to be alone in the world, and what it means to find connection. It is, by turns, heartbreaking, hilarious, and deeply hopeful. Meg Mason is a dazzling talent.' Ann Patchett,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eTom Lake\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'Sophie, Standing There\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eunfolds like a strange origami crane in reverse--so achingly tender and so brilliantly subtle that I could never put it down. The loneliness of our inner world and the quiet movement towards connection--nobody evokes it as breathtakingly as Meg Mason. And by '\u003cem\u003eit\u003c\/em\u003e', I guess I mean simply being a person. Dazzling.' Catherine Newman,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eWreck\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'The lucky reader of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eSophie, Standing There\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003epeers at the world through Sophie's eyes, and wonders how her life shaped this view. When the answers are revealed, we experience a kind of wholeness with her. Or at least the possibility of wholeness. I loved Sophie, and I love Meg Mason's brain and the strange, wonderful, funny stories she gives us.' Ann Napolitano,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eHello Beautiful\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eP\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eraise for\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eSorrow and Bliss\u003c\/em\u003e:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Gloriously tender and absorbing ... It is impossible to read this novel and not be moved. It is also impossible not to laugh out loud... 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