Or by moments such as when Eleanor, moved to tears, thanks Laura the hairdresser for making her ‘shiny’.

You never think about the people that are left behind to deal with the aftermath of it all” “When you read about ‘monsters, house hold names… you forget they had families. It is impossible not to be moved by Eleanor’s observation that:

I loved the sensitivity with which Honeyman handled her past. Gail Honeyman has created a very remarkable character in Eleanor Oliphant.

She has lacked social contact for so long, that lack of knowledge rather than rudeness seems to be the cause of her faux pas. She is brutally honest herself, ‘helpfully’ telling people things they should not be doing and becoming stunned by ‘how rude’ they can be when they do not respond. It like living in a police state, yo #hungover #leavemealone #fightthepowerĪs ever, Eleanor remains touchingly oblivious. A concerned friend stop pushing Big Brother spy-slash-loyalty card on here. There is a great passage where Eleanor glimpses him in Tesco’s and feels she must give him the benefit of her shopping wisdom via her sole means of communication, Tesco Club Card is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Simultaneously, Eleanor finds ‘the love of her life’, an arrogant rock star who she concedes she hasn’t met just yet, leading to some hilarious ‘encounters’. When the two rescue an elderly man who has collapsed on the side walk, an unlikely friendship begins to form between them, the type of friendship capable of showing Eleanor it is never too late to reclaim your life and allow yourself to be happy again. She lives by the same carefully scheduled timetable each week of lunchtime meal deals, visits to the grocer for two bottles of vodka, and Wednesday talks with her vindictive ‘mummy’ until, one day, she meets Raymond, a clumsy, ‘unhygenic’ IT man from work. Eleanor is ‘completely fine’ simply because she has to be. Unpitying and unambitious, Eleanor struggles with a past she can hardly bear to remember and which readers come to learn more of as the story unfolds. Gail Honeyman’s brilliant debut novel features one of the most quirky and utterly original heroines you are likely to meet – Eleanor Oliphant, a quiet, socially inept office worker who ‘ survives’ each day.

Eleanor oliphant is perfectly fine