Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Gail Honeyman. Viking/Dorman, $26 (336p) ISBN 978-0-7352-2068-3
Thirty-year-old narrator Eleanor Oliphant’s life in Glasgow is one of structure and safety, but it doesn’t offer many opportunities for human connection. At her job of 10 years as a finance clerk, she endures snickers and sidelong glances from her coworkers because she is socially awkward and generally aloof, and her weekends are spent with copious amounts of vodka. Office IT guy Raymond Gibbons becomes a fixture in her life after they help an elderly man, Sammy Thom, when he collapses in the street. Raymond and Sammy slowly bring Eleanor out of her shell, requiring her to confront some terrible secrets from her past. Her burgeoning friendship with Raymond is realistically drawn, and, refreshingly, it doesn’t lead to romance, though the lonely Eleanor yearns for love. Debut author Honeyman expertly captures a woman whose inner pain is excruciating and whose face and heart are scarred, but who still holds the capacity to love and be loved. Eleanor’s story will move readers. (May)
Details
Reviewed on: 05/08/2017
Release date: 05/09/2017
Genre: Fiction
Hardcover - 557 pages - 9781410499646
Hardcover - 336 pages - 9780735220683
Paperback - 336 pages - 9780143199090
Audio book sample courtesy of Penguin Random House Audio