Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Genre: Fiction

I gave this book ****

This is the story of Eleanor Oliphant who is in her early 30’s, single, lonely and alone, shut out from the world (except for her job as an accounts receivable administrator) and ends her days with pizza and a lot of vodka. Eleanor is hiding a secret (from herself too!). We know she has been through the foster care system, that something terrible happened to her in her childhood and that her mother contacts her by phone every so often. But that is all. As bleak as her life sounds, and is, Eleanor is bright, sweet, and wickedly funny (this is one of my favorite- but so very wrong! - observations she makes, “There is no such thing as hell, of course, but if there was, then the soundtrack…would be a looped medley of showtunes drawn from the annals of musical theatre”). It is her naïveté about all social interactions and anything main-stream that makes her so very charming. Eleanor’s life is about to change due to a chance encounter with her new co-worker, Raymond, and a stranger on the street. Through this and other interactions that follow, Eleanor learns what happened to her as a child, and with this new understanding, how to navigate through her life with eyes open wide.

I loved so much about this book. First, that Eleanor narrates her own story. It feels like today’s hot-trend in storytelling is to write the story from different perspectives, and while I enjoy that, this story lent itself so well to be told from Eleanor’s perspective alone. Second, I love how the story went from light and funny to very dark and heavy. I didn’t realize how invested I was in Eleanor until she falls, and when she falls, almost literally, I was right there with her, hoping that she would get up again. This story ends on a high note, which I always love. And finally, my favorite, favorite part of the story is the reminder that a life lived with knowledge and understanding is so much more profoundly powerful and rich than one lived without. It is only once Eleanor fully understands what happened to her and what’s going on inside her, that she can figure out what’s going on around her. Because looking in the mirror and really seeing yourself, past, present, scars, smiles and all is the gift of life, isn’t it?

Honeyman’s characters are flawed and beautiful, her story is uplifting and enlightening. It’s a great ride, just sit back and enjoy!