Meredith, Alone
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3.3 • 3 Ratings
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- £7.99
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
Brought to you by Penguin.
Meredith Maggs hasn't left her house in 1,214 days. But she insists she isn't alone . . .
She has her cat Fred. Her friend Sadie visits when she can. There's her online support group, StrengthInNumbers. She has her jigsaws, favourite recipes, her beloved Emily Dickinson, the internet, the Tesco delivery man and her treacherous memories for company.
But something's about to change. Whether Meredith likes it or not, the world is coming to her door . . . Does she have the courage to overcome what's been keeping her inside all this time?
© Claire Alexander 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
From the title, you might blithely assume this is a loner’s misery memoir or a rom-com about a Bridget Jones-style singleton. Don’t be fooled and don’t miss out. It’s actually an ingeniously immersive, really rather beautiful novel about trauma and mental health—although much funnier and more uplifting than that may sound. Loveable recluse Meredith Maggs is such a rounded character, she’ll fast feel like an old friend. With huge tenderness and empathy, Alexander takes us inside her complex creation’s head and back through her past. We gradually learn what brought Meredith here—while increasingly believing that she can rebuild herself and escape. It’s a deeply affecting tale of hope lost and found, the bittersweet bonds of family, and companionship found in unlikely places. There are echoes of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, hints of Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane, even a dash of Shuggie Bain. Alexander’s achievement is all the more impressive when you realise it’s her fiction debut, clearly written from the heart. Deeply affecting but ultimately optimistic, Meredith’s world will stay with you long after you leave it.
Customer Reviews
*Heartfelt*
*Heartfelt*
**4.5 Stars**
This story started off quite slowly until I understood what was happening. Meredith went through something traumatic which resulted in her living in a self imposed isolation. At first the counting of the number of days that she has been inside was a little annoying but the whole thing turned around for me as more is revealed about her life as she recalls the past and what led her to take such a drastic decision to stay home for almost 4 years without going outside.
Over time I grew to love her and every was quietly rooting her on in her challenges to change.
An emotional story of how Meredith strives to move forward and try to interact with the outside world. I found that her emotions were described in such a way that it felt like I was in her space.
Gently and gradually as a support system is introduced into her life we see how she emerges, I will stop there….