New Delhi, Aug. 22 -- Meg Mason is on tenterhooks when we meet on a video call a few weeks ago. Her new novel, Sophie, Standing There (out in India on 27 August), has been several years in the making. Fans of her last book, the Women's Prize-shortlisted best-seller Sorrow and Bliss (2022), are waiting with bated breath for just reasons. In the latter, Mason created Martha, one of the most memorable characters in contemporary English-language fiction, a 40-year-old woman whose marriage is unravelling, quietly but surely, as she struggles with her mental health and a dysfunctional family. Acerbic, testy, and not easy to like, Martha reminded readers and critics of the character of Fleabag, in the eponymous television series played by Phoebe...