#BookReview |Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine |@GailHoneyman |@HarperCollinsUK

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Literary Fiction
Humour
Social & Family Issues
Friendship

| Synopsis |

Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live

Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.

Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.

One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life.

Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than… fine?

An astonishing story that powerfully depicts the loneliness of life and the simple power of a little kindness

| Review |

Eleanor is a 30-year-old, single, city girl who keeps to herself and whose daily routine revolves around work and vodka. At first, the plot resembles a Bridget Jones chic lit but quickly escalates into something much deeper, darker and quirky. Eleanor’s story revolves around her “socially awkward” personality. As we get to know the real Eleanor, we learn that her awkwardness is a result of the walls and barriers she has learnt to hide behind following years of abuse at the hands of “mummy”.

At the centre of the story is a horrific event that occurred in Eleanor’s childhood, but the exact details are teased out gradually making for an intense read that has us rooting for Eleanor and yearning for more. It’s hard at times to remember that this is a work of fiction, it is a read you’ll find yourself caught up in until the very end. One second you’ll find yourself laughing out loud and the next drawing a breath in shock and despair.

Her lifeline in her friend Raymond and the development of their friendship and Eleanor’s prejudices towards Raymond are as endearing as her newfound zest for life – brought about partly by a chance encounter with an elderly gentleman, Sammy.

This book has you almost grieving the loss of a friend at the end as Eleanor’s character wynds its way into your very soul. There is a certain skill in creating a character that is at best ordinary and boring and at worst arrogant and unlikeable only to build her up to an enchanting crusader that you can’t help fall in love with….

Review by Allison Brady on behalf of Love Books Group.

| Order Link |

|Publisher Info|

Harper Collins UK

Twitter: Twitter.com/HQDigitalUK

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