“The voice in my own head – my own voice – was actually quite sensible, and rational.”
Eleanor’s life thrives on a routine – well, thrives might be the wrong word. It’s a rather boring life, but it’s a life Eleanor can handle. The less emotion in her life, the better. She doesn’t know how to deal with being happy or sad. She can handle being bored. She works, eats, listens to the radio, reads and drinks vodka – over and over again. Until one day a coworker follows her as she leaves work and they see a man fall unconscious and they both help get him to the hospital. Her routine slowly gets shaken up from then on and she can finally find a way to deal with why she is the way she is.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Just Fine by Gail Honeyman was my local book club’s March book choice. We all enjoyed reading a book where the plot and characters were very different from books we typically read. It was hard to put down the book once you got towards the end. I have not read anything by this author before, but the book has been on the bestseller list for a while, so it seemed worth reading.
Raymond, her coworker, and Eleanor start meeting for lunch regularly and a friendship begins to form. No matter what tidbit she throws to him about her past or present, he listens and stays. She has scars from being in a fire in her childhood and lets Raymond know there was emotional abuse, including starvation, in her childhood. When she finally hits rock bottom, Raymond convinces her to get counseling, which ends up being exactly what she needs. Only when she finds out the truth of the past she’s blocked out can she face the idea of thriving in life.
Fans of A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Bachman and The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion will enjoy this book as the main character has social quirks that keep the book lively and interesting amidst some very heavy topics of child abuse and its ramifications. I read it in just a few days because I really wanted to know why Eleanor was such a social misfit. The book is geared toward adults.
What is your favorite book with a socially awkward character? Share on the blog!