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Meredith Alone - Claire Alexander

 


Description

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.

First, new friends Tom and Celeste burst into her life, followed by an estranged sister she hasn't spoken to in years, and suddenly her carefully curated home is no longer a safe place to hide.

Whether Meredith likes it or not, the world is coming to her door . . .


Review

Absolutely loved this book.

Meredith hasn't left her home in 1,214 days. You might think this won't be much of a story as she only has her four walls and a cat for company. But you would be wrong - I was hooked from the beginning into this wonderful and realistic tale.

I just loved the character of Meredith and got so caught up with her that I felt her every emotion so deeply. The portrayal of all the characters really brought them alive and I could picture all the details of the scenes so clearly in my minds eye.

Meredith has a visitor called Tom - he's part of a support group and she's not happy he's in her space. She has a real life friend called Sadie who visits with her children so she's covered for friends. She's much happier with a friend called Celeste from an online support group who stays online - just like she prefers. Except maybe things are about to change and with the help of Tom and Celeste Meredith gets a little braver.

It takes a while for us to discover why Meredith hasn't left her home and I was dreading it being revealed. With flashbacks to Meredith's past throughout the book we begin to see she didn't have the best upbringing and is now estranged from her family.

I felt a bit lost when this book ended. I had read it in two sittings and to suddenly not have Meredith in my life left a big space. 

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to penguinrandomhouse for my proof copy of this book to review.

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