Sorrow and Bliss

‘Sorrow and Bliss is a brilliantly faceted and extremely funny book about depression that engulfed me in the way I’m always hoping to be 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 realized that I wanted to send it to everyone I know’ Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth

‘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; Sorrow and Bliss is too good to hang on to… . Mason navigates [Martha’s challenges] with dark charm.’ New York Times

‘I am adding Sorrow and Bliss to my list of the best novels of 2020.’ The Australian

‘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, The Times

‘Such a good book and so richly warrants the Fleabag reference… So funny, so devastating, it’s really spiky and completely compelling, I absolutely loved it’ Annabel Crabb

‘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.’ The Guardian UK

‘Compulsively readable, Sorrow and Bliss is one of the funniest books I’ve read … It is tempting to compare Martha to other tragicomic greats, Fleabag 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.” The Independent

‘This is a romance, true, but a real one … as devastating and sharply witty as Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag.’ Books+Publishing

‘A triumph. A brutal, hilarious, compassionate triumph.’ Alison Bell, The Letdown

‘A heartbreaking debut … simultaneously funny and sad-and aching..Witty and stark, Martha’s emotionally affecting story will delight fans of Sally Rooney’ Publishers Weekly starred review

‘Sorrow and Bliss 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 Fleabag for good reason … fresh and revelatory … sharp, racy and entertaining throughout.’ The Saturday Paper

‘Sharp yet humane, and jaw-droppingly funny, this is the kind of novel you will want to press into the hands of everyone you know. 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 The Miniaturist and The Confession

‘Sophisticated and often blackly funny’Sydney Morning Herald

‘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, The Friendship Cure

Meg Mason is the author of You Be Mother and Sorrow and Bliss. Sorrow and Bliss became an international bestseller after its publication in 2021, winning Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2022 and being shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. It has since been translated into thirty languages.

Mason’s first career was in journalism, beginning at The Times of London. She later wrote for Vogue, Elle, GQ, Sunday Style, and The New Yorker’s ‘Daily Shouts and Murmurs’.

Born in New Zealand, she lives in Sydney with her husband and two daughters. Her third novel, Sophie, Standing There, will be published in 2026.