Talking To Addison

The Unseen Confidante

In Talking To Addison, Jenny Colgan introduces us to expressively reserved Maia Sinclair, a London-based graphic novelist whose latest work has stalled in a creative impasse. When Maia reluctantly inherits her late grandmother’s Highland cottage, she discovers an antique telephone tucked beneath the eaves—one that doesn’t connect to any exchange, yet rings at dawn each morning. On the other end of the line is Addison, a voice so warm and patient that Maia hesitates to question its origin. Colgan’s evocative prose entwines the gentle melancholy of Scottish mist with the electric spark of unexpected companionship, as Maia’s daily dialogues with Addison guide her out of isolation and toward rediscovered inspiration.

Echoes of Past and Present

As Maia grows closer to Addison, she begins to share fragments of her life: the ache of a broken engagement, the pressures of looming deadlines, and the weight of family secrets long unspoken. Addison listens, offering cryptic anecdotes from a past that seems at once familiar and tantalizingly distant. When Maia uncovers a trove of her grandmother’s letters in the cottage attic—each addressed to a mysterious Addison—she realizes that her newfound confidante may be woven into her own family history. Every letter, every whispered confession beneath the Highland firs, deepens the mystery and draws Maia further from her city life toward a place of true belonging.

Finding Voice Through Silence

Against the backdrop of rolling heather and snow-dusted glens, Maia confronts her fears and learns that the act of speaking—even into an unseen receiver—can unearth truths powerful enough to transform a life. With the cottage’s windows thrown open to brisk mountain air and the telephone as her beacon of hope, Maia rediscovers her creative spark and the courage to reach out to real people in her life. Colgan masterfully balances the delicate interplay of memory and imagination, illustrating how the faintest conversation can resonate across generations.

. “A tender tale of unexpected connections, buried legacies, and the courage to speak one’s heart into the silent spaces,” writes Jenny Colgan’s description.