Meredith, Alone

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 poems.  Also keeping her company are treacherous memories of an unstable childhood and a traumatic event that had sent her reeling. 
But something's about to change. First, two new friends burst into her life.  Then her long-estranged sister gets in touch.  Suddenly her carefully curated home is no longer a space to hide.  Whether Meredith likes it or not, the world  is coming to her door...

This is one of my favourite 2022 releases. Meredith hasn’t left her home for over 1000 days. She works from home and lives with her cat Fred, and loves to read, bake, and do jigsaw puzzles in her free time. She has a best friend named Sadie, an online friend Celeste, and Tom, someone sent from a charity organization to be her ‘friend.’ The more we get to know Meredith, the more we peel back the layers of why she doesn’t want to go outside.

I deeply related to Meredith. She enjoyed being at home with her hobbies, had a handful of people she kept in touch with, and was content to stay home while online shopping to get necessities. Meredith struggles with anxiety and depression, and has gone through traumatic experiences in her life. When she does get the courage to try going outside, to meet a friend or go to their birthday party, Meredith’s anxiety sometimes gets the best of her and she ends up retreating and staying home. I felt this so, so much. What I appreciated the most was how Meredith’s friends were incredibly understanding, truly cared about her, and cheered her on through her ups and downs. They gave her space when she needed, were gracious when she ended up cancelling plans, and encouraged her without ever being overbearing.

Meredith, Alone also touches on dysfunctional families (sister to sister and mother-daughter relationships) and how parental neglect affects a child’s view of themselves all the way to adulthood. Throughout Meredith’s story, you can feel how much heart and gentleness the author put into writing about these topics, as well as other ones like sexual assault and emotional abuse.

The pacing of the book is on the slower side, which I thought was perfect. It gave me the time to get to know Meredith at her own pace and I couldn’t help but love her. This book shows how much work it takes to heal and how hard it can really be. It was realistic with steps forward and back, but also hopeful that there will be better days. It was realistic and relatable, and felt like I made a friend I will cheer on and remember fondly for a long time.

Thank you Libro.fm for my ALC! All opinions my own.