Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

336 pages

English language

Published Feb. 23, 2017

ISBN:
978-0-7352-2068-3
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Goodreads:
31434883

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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is the 2017 debut novel by Gail Honeyman, and the winner of the 2017 Costa Debut Novel Award. The story centres on Eleanor Oliphant, a social misfit with a traumatic past who becomes enamoured with a singer, whom she believes she is destined to be with. The novel deals with themes of isolation and loneliness, and depicts Eleanor's transformational journey towards a fuller understanding of self and life.

3 editions

None

This story took a while for me to get into. Partly, it's that the protagonist isn't terribly likeable, and the main plot seems to be her just being horrible to people.

However, as things go on, you begin to enjoy getting to know her, and observing her interactions with people, her simultaneous intelligence and social cluelessness, it's hard not to start pulling for her. Even though you know very well that the crush she has on the musician (which drives a large part of the plot) is not going to turn out well.

It's a fascinating portrait of a person who has experienced deep trauma.

MILD SPOILER AHEAD

In the end, the emotional transformation is very satisfying, as is the ending, where she finally starts putting pieces together.