Thursday 1 February 2018

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine


From Goodreads: "Smart, warm, uplifting, the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes the only way to survive is to open her heart"

When a friend whose opinion I rate wrote that this book made her sob, my interest was piqued. There wasn't much else to go on. The title didn't exactly draw me, and I've never read Gail Honeyman before. (This is her debut, so I suppose that is understandable.)

Eleanor lives alone, and works - mainly alone  - doing admin in a small office. When the annoying IT guy, Raymond needs to be called, things get interesting. Then, perchance, they stumble upon and assist an elderly man, Sam, who has collapsed and needs an ambulance, and suddenly they are almost friends. It's all rather nice - what with Eleanor's frozen pizza, lots of vodka so she can face her regular calls to her dreadful mother and plan to woo and win a famous singer - she needs some support sometimes.

The writing is somewhat wry and dry, which adds to the charm of the book. It's also moving - though maybe not quite "sob-worthy".

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine is more than completely fine. It's warm, unique, well plotted, has delightful characters and will have you smiling on every page. I loved it.


5 stars

ISBN: 9780735220683

You may also enjoy A man called Ove by Fredrik Backman.

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2 comments:

Terra said...

I like the title of this book, it sounds original and the plot sounds good.

Bev Bouwer said...

I think you would enjoy it. It is well written too, which is a bonus. Thanks for the comment.