I’d like to thank NetGalley and Michael Joseph for approving me for an ARC of this book. I was also lucky enough to receive a physical proof of this one too.

This has been dubbed as ‘this summers most anticipated read’ and I have to safe that it more than lived up to my expectations. From the opening chapter to the very last page I was hooked and invested in the story.

From the synopsis you might say that this sounds like a depressing read given that Meredith hasn’t left her house in over 3 years. However it is clear from the start that Meredith is not someone who sits in her house day after day wallowing. She cooks, she does jigsaw puzzles, she works from home but more importantly she’s taking vital steps to help her recovery. Of course she has times when the outside world and her fear of it become too much but she ultimately wants to gain back control of her life.

I would actually say this was an empowering read that shows the courage and bravery that people in Meredith’s situation face every day. As we learn more and more about her past and what brought her to close the door to the outside world you can’t help but sympathise with her. As a person Meredith is kind, loving, fun and as I neared the end of the story I wanted to savour the final pages because I knew that when I closed the book there would be a little Meredith shaped hole in my life.

We also had a fantastic cast of supporting characters. Whether it was loyal Sadie, fun loving Celeste, sweet toothed Tom or the adorable Jacob you could find so much love for Meredith in these characters. Each one played a vital role in helping her manage and take her first steps into the outside world. Perhaps the most loveable part of the story was Meredith’s relationship with Fee. I have many sisters and thought the sibling relationship between these two was depicted perfectly. How their relationship changed from their childhood to grown women often brought a lump to my throat.

This was a truly magnificent debut and has me so excited for what else Claire Alexander produces next. The characters and the story will always hold a special place for me and it is without a doubt that this book will be in my top reads of the year!

This is the story of Meredith Meggs who we learn quickly has not left her home for 1214 days. The book takes us forward in time through the next year and also flashes back to Meredith’s childhood and to the start of her isolation.

*TW** This book covers some deep and dark periods in her life and includes reference to mental and sexual abuse, self harm and suicidal thoughts

It’s in parts a tough read, but it’s also full of hope. Whilst Meredith isn’t living the full life she wants, she isn’t purely existing. She is holding down a good job, she exercises, she has friends who love and support her and during the book makes more friends and makes contact with her previously estranged sister.

Meredith is a great character who loves and cares for others and is that love that brings out her true bravery and desire to succeed.

This isn’t a book I would have normally read but if I hadn’t read it I would have missed a treat!

I’m incredibly grateful for NetGalley and PenguinMichaelJosephUK for the opportunity to read this lovely book.

Wow, such a fantastic read, however it's a complex read which talks about lots of traumatic things including depression, suicide, rape and self harm.
This story is about meredith and follows her life about how she is overcoming her past and deals with everything that happened to her.
It's an emotional read but we'll worth reading.

Circumstances made home Merediths safe place. A traumatic event changes how much Meredith trusts the world. Never leaving home makes her safe.
Slowly things change as new people enter her life but can she make the changes that allow her to venture beyond her front door..
Follow Meredith as she attempts to change her life

This begins with a great lie to draw you in immediately, ‘My name is Meredith Maggs and I haven’t left my home for 1214 days.’ Mereditch, alone is a wonderfully wrotten story about mental health and trauma with some life, family and joy thrown in for good measure.

Meredith’s friend Sadie comes to visit her regularly, but whatever she tries, she can’t leave the house so mainly relies upon her online support group and her cat, Fred. Meredith’s world is about to expand with the arrival of her estranged sibling and some new friends, whether she likes it or not!

I found the plot and characters to be engaging and I wanted to find out more about what happens to them. The book is structured with each chapter being a new day of Meredith’s entrapment interspersed with flashbacks to the past.

The characters were easy to picture and full of life. Meredith is far more capable than she believs herself to be, very true to real life for a lot of people. Her poor childhood is bought in through the flashbacks and show the trauma she has suffered. As we read more we find out more about what has triggered her prolonged stay at home and begin to understand more.

I enjoyed the way Alexander approaches these mental health issues, Mereditch isn’t portrayed as a loner, but someone who is relatively happy. She eats well and exercises regularly, she has hobbies and self care and is happy to have visitors, she just cannot bring herself to leave the house however hard she tries.

I found the ending a little abrupt but was an enjoyable book overall.

The blurb for this book was so intriguing - why hasn’t Meredith left her home for so long? Why is she counting the days? Does he want the world to come to her door, or not? I couldn’t wait to dive in.

Meredith is a great character, she’s the kind of person you would want to get to know more. She has opinions about all sorts of things, and she knows a lot of stuff. She would be good to spend time with.

As the book progresses, we learn more about what Meredith has been through to end up with her shrunken world, and that made me like her even more. She has re-framed the restrictive environment to pull out and focus on the positives and find happiness in her world, and that’s something we all need to remember to do.

Claire Alexander has a lovely writing style, that is so accessible and fully engrosses you - I read this in two sittings, and that was only because I had other commitments that made me stop reading on the first day. The majority of the book takes place in one setting and there are only a handful of characters but it is full and rich, never feeling repetitive.

This story does cover some dark topics and it does so with a light touch that doesn’t ever feel like it’s being dismissive of those topics, that’s difficult to achieve but it’s done with seeming ease here.

I think that this might actually be the perfect book for this genre. The characters are lovely and complex, the story is emotional and overwhelming but overwhelmingly good and just...nice. It's beautifully written

TW. There is abuse, rape, self harm, depression and suicide discussed so may not be suitable for all readers.

The story follows Meredith’s progress dealing with her traumatic experiences and her relationships.

I found Meredith to be a really lovely character and I enjoyed reading about her and her supportive friends.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #PenguinMichaelJosephUK for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I cannot believe this is the Big Book of the Summer and I keep seeing it everywhere because what the fuck was that plot?? One of the most boring straight books I've ever read - how do you make a book that has two instances of sexual assault and domestic violence come across as cutesey?
I was convinced up until the final pages that there was going to be a big twist - that Celeste wasn't real, or Tom would reveal a big secret, or the mother would reveal something that happened in the past that made you go "oh my god, that's why i wasted my time reading this!". But nope, Celeste is a real human who is very boring, Tom has depression and dead babies and is very boring, and the mother is just the boring archetype of an emotionally abusive mother. She slaps Meredith once in the past and we're meant to be horrified? Where's the drama! Where's the excitement!
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC.

Five huge stars for this wonderful book. I left my heart on the last page of this book, and I'm not sure I'll get it back anytime soon. Meredith Maggs is one of THE most lovely, heartwarming characters I've come across in a long time. She's complex, brave, caring, a best friend, has a wonderful sister, a good job, a pet cat called Fred, and a huge love of books and jigsaws. A bit like me (without the cat). But Meredith has not left her home for YEARS, and this gorgeous story explains why Meredith chose to shut her front door and not step outside of it again.

The tale is told between Meredith's childhood and her growing up years, and more recently during her life as a recluse. It will make you laugh, it will make you feel anger and it will make you cry. I honestly can't recommend this enough, and feel it will become one of this year's most talked about reads. Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

Instantly engaging, Meredith Alone is a wonderfully written story about mental health and trauma, but also life, family and joy.
 
Meredith Maggs hasn’t left her house in 1,214 days. Her best friend Sadie visits her regular, she has her online support group, and of course, her faithful cat Fred. Sometimes she tries leaving, but never makes it through the door. However, change is afoot. With new friends and her estranged sibling entering her life, the small world of Meredith Maggs is expanding, whether she is ready or not…
 
From the first few pages, I was hooked. No turning back, I needed to see how the life of Meredith Magg’s turned out. Alexander writes in such a way I just HAD to read on. The narrative is structured so each chapter is the next day of Meredith’s extended time inside her house, interspersed with flashbacks to the past. This style was very easy to read; I read the first 260 pages in one sitting!
 
All the characters have depth and substance to them; I could picture them clearly, each with personality exuding from each gesture and phrase. I found Meredith to be a truly likeable character, warm despite her socially distanced life, and an easy conversationalist despite her lack of interactions. In one moment she mentions practicing small talk for her Tesco delivery driver, and yet when surprised by neighbours she can easily hold a short conversation. Meredith is a lot more capable than she believes herself to be, a consequence of her upbringing, which is slowly revealed through flashbacks. Raised by an emotionally distance mum with no father around, Meredith and sister Fee (Fiona) bring themselves up admirably, but scars of neglect shine through for both of them in different ways.
 
As more of Meredith’s life is revealed and we find out just what triggers her long stay at home, I found myself becoming quite attached to her! Sad when she faces an upset, and so proud when she takes steps forwards towards change. This is the sign of a wonderful novel by a fantastic writer, to create such emotional attachment to a fictional character.
 
Alexander approaches mental health issues well (in my opinion). I love that Meredith isn’t a caricature of a loner and does not deal with her anxieties in a stereotypical way. She has hobbies, she exercises and eats well, showers regularly and is happy to receive best friend Sadie and her two children as visitors to her sanctuary without feeling uneasy.

I understand that sometimes people do have trouble doing basic things when suffering with mental ill health (having been there myself) and do not judge anyone for just doing whatever they can manage day to day, but I do find it refreshing to see another side of mental illness in this book.

I found the ending to be a little abrupt but it in no way takes from the overall pleasure I took from reading this book. Touching, sweet and ultimately full of hope, I loved Meredith and I’m sure others will too.

This is a beautiful, character driven debut. But be warned, it takes you to some really dark places (check out at the end for some content warnings if you want to know more).

This one is heartbreaking - you learn of Meredith’s backstory through flashbacks and as events unfold in the present. She’s cut herself off from the outside world, save for the few close people she has in her life and the few interactions she has online. Despite this, her life is full of complex relationships with complicated backstories, and through a series of events, more people are introduced into her life.

I love how Meredith’s story unfolds. You know it’s serious, but not the depth. You know some of her relationships are strained, but not why. But as you learn more, you start to understand her more. And that’s when the heartbreak hits.

This is a really rich and nuanced, character driven story. A remarkable debut and recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley, the team at Penguin Michael Joseph Books and the author for the opportunity to read this review copy.



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⚠️Content warning/potential spoilers: there’s reference to rape and sexual assault, parental neglect/abuse, suicidal thoughts ⚠️

Meredith Alone is a great read that I read over 2 days as once I started it I needed to know how her life became how it did.
Meredith hasn’t left her home in Glasgow for 1,214 days, she has her cat, Fred, who is her main companion and her best friend, Sadie. Tom has also become a regular on a Thursday morning but although he’s working for a charity he soon becomes friends with Meredith making a lovely companionship. Meredith spends her days baking, cleaning, keeping fit, reading and completing endless jigsaws.
This book had the kind of writing style I completely loved, there are some hard topics covered but they are done well and although Meredith can’t leave her home there was positivity and hope running through this book. I loved finding out about Meredith and how she came to be like she is and how she tries to rebuild her relationship with her sister. The characters in this book are to be honest nothing short of perfect, I felt like I knew them and wanted to know them. This is a very different read for me and my usual thrillers but this has to be in my top five reads of the year.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Meredith Maggs has spent the last 1,214 days inside her house. She has her cat Fred for company, her jigsaws, the internet and the Tesco delivery man. Her friend Sadie visits with her kids when she can to make sure she hasn’t died and been eaten by said cat. And she also has her online support group so she’s not lonely. Honest.

But when Tom from Helping Hands starts to visit her once a week, her life begins to change. Can Meredith overcome whatever it is keeping her inside and start to embrace the outside world again?

From the very first page I knew I was going to fall in love with Meredith. She loves cats, reading, jigsaws and has a wicked sense of humour. She’s also slightly damaged but the author treats issues of anxiety and abuse in such a sensitive and realistic way. Through flashbacks we see some of Meredith’s childhood and the incidents which led to her being unable to leave the house. All of this is told with touches of humour and Meredith’s matter of factness which manage to soften the harsh edges without taking away the seriousness of it.

The cast of secondary characters are thoroughly entertaining and each adds something to the story. While Meredith’s mother is mostly seen in flashbacks through Meredith’s eyes, she is a vivid and looming presence throughout the book.

The writing is beautiful with some lines that resonated so completely with me and I’m sure with anyone who suffers with anxiety. For a debut novel I was blown away and Meredith will stay with me for a long time. It deals with difficult subjects but in the end it offers that vital thing for anyone with mental health issues; hope.

Meredith Maggs has a cat called Fred, a close friend from school called Sadie and her online support group – Strength In Numbers. Meredith keeps herself busy, she enjoys doing jigsaws, cooking, reading, the internet, her regular deliveries from the Tesco delivery man… Meredith hasn’t left her home in one thousand, two hundred and fourteen days!

Initially, we don’t know why she has refused to leave her house, but between the flashbacks to the past and the present day, we gradually learn the truth. This first-person narrative was relatable, funny and empowering – it could make you laugh in one moment and cry in the next. The author’s powerful writing was extremely moving and she handled key issues like depression, anxiety and mental health very well.

At four hundred pages, this wasn’t a short book, but it sucks you in with the great characters and keeps your attention with the excellent writing. I was surprised to learn that this is Claire Alexander’s debut novel!

My thanks to the author and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for my advance copy to review via Netgalley. Due to be released 9th June 2022!

A beautiful moving story about Meredith. Heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measures Meredith’s story is a brilliant read. She’s such a strong character and I loved her relationship with Sadie who loves her friend unconditionally. Told over two timelines, we learn more about why Meredith hasn’t been outside her front door for 1,214 days and come to appreciate the emotional life she has had to date. With the little steps Meredith takes, you’ll be willing her to find the courage to experience life again outside of her four walls. This is a wonderful story and one that I’ll be recommending to all.

Friend, sister, daughter, writer, recluse. The book opens with these words “ ‘My name is Meredith Maggs and I haven’t left my home for 1214 days.’. A beautifully written book dealing with some huge issues.
Meredith, her plight, her wins, her loses and her story will stay with you long after you’ve finished the last line. A delightful poignant read

This book begins with this verse:

‘My name is Meredith Maggs and I haven’t left my home for 1214 days.’.

Immediately, my interest was piqued as I was desperate to find out what led to Meredith’s permanently seeking refuge in her home.

Meredith works from home as a freelance writer, and in her spare time she loves to read and complete jigsaw puzzles. She lives with her cat Fred, and she does all her shopping online. She makes it sound as if she has all her life figured out.

One day, Tom McDermott from Holding Hands, a befriending charity, arrives at Meredith’s house. His visits soon become regular and they spur Meredith to think of her childhood experiences: her close bond with her sister Fiona and being brought up by their cold and selfish mother.

At the same time, Meredith is a frequent visitor of a website called ‘StrengthInNumbers’ where people with various issues can interact online. There, Meredith meets CatLady29 (whose real name is Celeste) and the two women become friendly. Celeste invites Meredith to her birthday party, however, she doesn’t know that Meredith hasn’t left her house for over three years…

I loved this book, it has characters which you can relate to (Meredith and Tom) and you begin to root for them. I I was interested to discover whether Tom and Meredith would get together, but I guess she had other ideas on her mind.

Meredith was a gentle woman who experienced trauma, first in her childhood then in adulthood. I was heartbroken when I found out the reason why she decided to never leave her house again. I was glad of her friendship with Celeste as I thought that it helped her to face some of her issues.

This is a story about regaining control over your life. Meredith did it slowly, step by step. When she tried to rush it, we could clearly see it was making her more anxious and withdrawn.

This book is also about hope: today we might be having a bad day, but there is always tomorrow.

Thank you to the publisher for accepting my NetGalley request.

“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. Then an estranged sister she hasn't spoken to in years.

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 . . .”

Every so often you chance upon an unputdownable book and for me, this was indeed one such book! I was hooked on Meredith’s story from the very beginning and this book had me captivated until the very last page.

Meredith lives alone with her cat Fred, and when we are first introduced to her, she hasn’t left the house for 1,214 days. Her only visitor is Sadie, her friend from childhood. As Meredith makes friends with Tom and Celeste, her circle and support network gradually widens. With help from Diane, her counsellor and the support of her new friends, Meredith feels able to deal with her past traumas and gradually her life as a recluse starts to change.

Meredith is empathic and caring despite being raised by a controlling, critical single mother.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK for the opportunity of reading this book before it’s publication date. I have no doubt this book will be a hit!

Review will be added to Amazon and Goodreads

This book has two periods in the life of Meredith, current and past. She had a sad childhood. She was the youngest and her mother treated her like the ugly duckling of the family. She was raped by her brother in law and her mother and sister did not believe her. She moved into a place of her own, and never left her home for over 3 years. During that time, she enjoyed reading, doing jigsaws and writing books. She met people on line. Her best friend got her a cat and she named him Fred, this became her companion. She had a few friends who visited her, and she tried to match make them together. I really enjoyed getting to know this character. The more you read the book the more you wanted to get to know Meredith more.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/58012331