Author Meg Mason explores the "parasocial relationship" that readers can form with favourite writers, prompted by her own teenage bond with novelist Nancy Mitford's books during a lonely period after moving countries. She examines why this phenomenon, recently named the Cambridge Dictionary's word of the year, appears especially strong between readers and authors, drawing on conversations with fellow writers and academics who study the effect.

Mason recalls being given Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love aged 17 and coming to feel the author was effectively a friend, a bond that has persisted into her late 40s. She cites fellow author Cathy Rentzenbrink, whose forthcoming memoir describes a similar connection to Agatha Christie after her divorce, and sociologist Dr Georgia Carroll, who argues such one-sided attachments are near-universal but tend to run deeper with books than with figures like Taylor Swift or Lewis Hamilton, since novels often "capture something that makes us feel less alone." One online study found 51% of Americans have likely had a parasocial relationship, though only 16% admit it.