Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman – Book Review

The Story of a Socially Awkward Young Woman Finding Her Feet

Plot

Eleanor Oliphant is a woman of simplicity. Routine comes natural to her. She wears the same clothes each day, eats the same foods and on the weekend indulges herself with vodka. Just as the title suggests, she is completely fine, content in the fact that there isn’t anything directly absent in her life.

We learn that Eleanor isn’t exactly a social butterfly, in fact she often struggles with the appropriateness of her actions within social settings. A tendency to speak her mind (exactly as she has thought it) has left her with no friends. The only regular contact Eleanor receives is phone calls with her “Mummy”, which are routinely scheduled every Wednesday. There’s something amiss about the calls however, the first glimpse we get into this atypical mother-daughter relationship.

One serendipitous meeting with the office IT man turns Eleanor’s perfectly timetabled world upside down. Having deemed Raymond completely inept and unhygienic, Eleanor initially has very little time for this new acquaintance. This soon changes when the pair by chance witness an elderly man stumble and ultimately save his life. With a new found connection through Sammy, the elderly man, Eleanor begins to see Raymond for more than a sloppy, messy IT man. She learns that in fact he has quite a big heart, which may help to repair her damaged one by becoming her first real friend.

Thoughts

Clever, warm, inspiring, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is a story about an unconventional protagonist whose oblivious notions make her stand out in everyday life. I really enjoyed this novel, I thought there was just the right amount of humour throughout with Eleanor’s unwitting comments and her tendency to say what’s on her mind. However, there was also a great story carried through that left me needing to turn the next page and find out more about her life. While we see Eleanor has had a tough life what we really learn is that the only way to survive is to open your heart to those around you. I would highly recommend this book, such an easy read! I flew through it in two or three days. 7/10.