About the Book:
Deep in Essex and her own thoughts, Sophie had a feeling something was going to happen and then it did. Chris has entered the pub and re-entered her life after Sophie had finally stopped thinking about him and regretting what she'd done.
Sophie has a chance at creating a new ending and paying off her emotional debts (if not her financial ones). All she has to do is act exactly like a normal, well-adjusted person and not say any of her inner monologue out loud. If she can suppress her light paranoia, pornographic visualisations and pathological lying maybe she'll even end up getting the guy she wants? Then she could dump her boyfriend Ian and try to enjoy Christmas.
Published by Faber
Released September 2023
My Thoughts:
After loving @sara.pascoe as host of seasons eight and nine of @britishsewingbee I was delighted to discover she'd written a novel, even more so when I realised, I'd already bought it not long ago in a @kobobooks sale.
Weirdo is seriously funny in a deadpan way and unexpectedly serious in what it explores. I devoured it, laughed, had a little cry, and fell in love with Sara Pascoe a little bit more. This may be a debut novel, but Sara is no novice when it comes to writing, having already written a couple of other books and years and years of stand up and TV material. She knows how to tell a story.
At first, our main character of Weirdo, Sophie, comes across as a stalker whose life is a literal bin fire. And a bit of that is true, but her situation is more complex than that, her chaotic life a mess on account of many factors, three of which are in her immediate family. She also habitually is drawn to men who treat her badly. I swiftly looked past the chaos and developed a great deal of empathy for her. By half way through, I adored her.
Weirdo is one of those coming-of-age novels where the protagonist should have had her life in order by now but doesn't because life is not always smooth sailing, and we aren't all as resilient as the next person. She gets there in the end, but what a beautiful, messy, funny, tragic journey it is along the way.
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