Christine's Reviews > Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

4.5 stars (rounded to 5 stars)

I passed on this book when it first came out, but after seeing all the 4 and 5 star ratings from my Goodreads friends I decided to give it a go.

It took a while for me to connect with the story. The first 80-100 pages were slow, and I wasn’t sure if I was loving the rather off-putting protagonist enough to enjoy her tale. Eleanor is a young woman living in Glasgow who suffered a horrifically traumatic event at age 10 and spent the rest of her childhood in one foster home after another and finally in an orphanage. She makes the best of things and decides she is completely fine as a scar-faced independent person with an OK job and her weekend bottles of vodka. Who needs friends and family when you are completely fine without them, right?

Then she unexpectedly finds herself in a situation where she thinks she might like to impress somebody. As practice for this “project” she begins to expand her horizons just a bit and surprises herself by enjoying these new experiences. And when a normal work colleague doggedly coaxes her into a friendship, it is nothing like she has ever experienced before. That is when the book started reeling me in. After that point, I was totally hooked and read the vast majority of the book in 2 days. Unheard of for me.

Wow, Ms. Honeyman constructed a jewel with this debut effort. Her writing style is beautiful and most appealing. She also drops an interesting new (to me) word every 3 pages or so. I was reading a hardback so kept my online dictionary nearby at all times in order to see exactly what these cool words meant. I love learning new words. She also knew when to inject a dose of humor into this emotive story.

Watching Eleanor learn about all the wonderful human-y things she has been missing in life is profoundly moving. She is like a chrysalis, just waiting to bloom. I appreciated the author not going over the top with Eleanor’s journey; the characters and the story are portrayed very realistically, adding to the brilliance of the book.

I must throw in that I thought the scenes of Eleanor with Maria Temple were particularly well done.

This story is many things. It is both wrenching and full of heart. It is deeply touching. It is dark, yet inspiring. Most of all, it is one of those few books one reads that is truly unforgettable. I highly recommend Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine to all.