Thank you, Grand Central Publishing and Libro.FM, for the gifted copy of Meredith, Alone {partner}

Genre: Fiction
Format: 🎧
Pub Date: 10.18.2022
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆.5

Summary:

“She has a full-time remote job and her rescue cat Fred. Her best friend Sadie visits with her two children.  There’s her online support group, her jigsaw puzzles and favorite recipes, her beloved Emily Dickinson, the internet, the grocery delivery man.  Also keeping her company are treacherous memories of an unstable childhood, the estrangement from her sister, and a traumatic event that had sent her reeling.

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? “

Review:

“For better or for worse, life can change in a matter of seconds; people take their first and last breaths, cars crash, and planes plunge into oceans. The healing process after decades of hurt can begin with a simple gesture or a question, are you alright.”

Meredith, Alone is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time. I loved Meredith, her eccentricities, her truthfulness, and all the steps she took to care of herself. I commend the author, Claire Alexander, for taking such care to portray Meredith in the way that she did.

Not only did the author do a spectacular job with Meredith’s character, but she also showed what a support system could and should look like for someone in Meredith’s shoes. The book also showed that therapy isn’t scary (it’s not, trust me) and that finding a professional to talk to can be helpful. None of Meredith’s friends put pressure on her to change or “get over” what happened, but it was more about being there for her and encouraging Meredith to keep trying.

Throughout the book, I celebrated Meredith’s steps forward and even her steps backward (because it’s not always easy). Everything about Meredith, Alone felt realistic, and I highly recommend reading this book (or listening to it).

🏡 Agoraphobia
🥰 What a support system should look like
🥺 Heavy read
👍🏼 Realistic
🎧 Loved the audiobook & audiobook narrator

As I mentioned, Meredith, Alone is a very heavy book – it circles around rape, sexual assault, parental abuse/neglect/abandonment, cancer, and pregnancy loss. If you have any questions or concerns, please DM me.

I recommend reading Meredith, Alone if you enjoyed reading All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle.

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BOOK INFO
Format: 368 pages, hardback
Published: November 2022
ISBN 9781538709948 (ISBN10: 1538709945)