Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is a novel by Gail Honeyman that I couldn’t put it down – I had to finish it the same day I picked it up. It’s a story about a woman named Eleanor Oliphant who, in her 30s, lives a life of solitude by choice. As the story moves on we find out more and more about her life and her childhood, which undeniably causes her to live the life she does.
Without giving too much away, Eleanor describes herself as a “…self contained entity.” She sticks to her routine and that is it. Her weekly phone calls to her mother, her weekly trip to the grocery store on a Friday night to pick up a bottle of vodka, her rereading of her same copy of Jane Eyre before bed and that is about how eccentric Eleanor’s life gets. But at one point, plans go awry and life happens and things get in the way, and her life begins to change – for Eleanor she finds out that she is capable of falling in love with this man in a band and becomes obsessed. Now she has to navigate life with feelings of love and obsession, and her life that was once regimented, predictable and safe becomes chaotic, unpredictable and unknown. She befriends a coworker, who makes her get out of her comfort zone by going out to lunch with him on her lunch break, accompany him to a bar for a drink after work, and help him take care of his Mom.
It is a novel which once you get into it you cannot put it down. It’s slow to get into but not because of the writing or because of the subject matter, it is because we are getting introduced to this woman’s life which is so secluded from people and life. Once you get to know Eleanor you absolutely love her and wish nothing more for her than to be happy.
This is a great novel to read on the beach or by the pool, and forget about life for a bit while you get lost in England with Eleanor Oliphant.