Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Glasgow, Scotland (United Kingdom)

Update: I officially declared this the best book I read in 2020!

This book was given to me by someone that I do not share book tastes with, so I normally do not like their suggestions. However, this book was so cute and so wholesome that I think everyone should read it.

This book is the story of Eleanor Oliphant, a strange but hilarious 30 year old woman living alone in Glasgow. She doesn't have any friends, and her only family is an abusive mother with whom she can only talk to by on the phone. Eleanor is lonely, but she is also fine with being lonely. Then, she meets the new IT guy named Raymond. They share a series of adventures and become good friends.

My favorite part of this book is that it is not a romance novel. Eleanor and Raymond have such a nice relationship, and he supports her very well through an extremely difficult time. It is sometimes hinted that the two may get together in the future (I really wish the author just committed to the platonic relationship and didn't give these hints), but that certainly wasn't the only reason these two were close.

While reading the book, I thought Eleanor was almost certainly on the Autism spectrum, and I thought the author did an excellent job depicting her as such. However, I found an article in which the author explains that Eleanor is not. The Honeyman wanted to bring light the effects that chronic loneliness and childhood trauma can have on a person. That is the gist I was able to get, at least, because you have to pay for this article, and I'm not willing to do that.

SPOILERS/CONTENT WARNING AHEAD

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This book is very wholesome, but it is not light. At one point in the novel, Eleanor attempts suicide. As someone who really connected to Eleanor's character and someone who very recently attempted suicide, this twist really affected me. I had to step away from the book for a few days. But again, I love how this was handled. Eleanor put in work, going to therapy and doing the work needed to put herself back together, with gentle and appropriate help from Raymond. It also helped that she has universal healthcare and was able to keep her job and apartment despite taking a leave of absence from work (damn Scottish commies, right??).

This was Gail Honeyman's first novel, and I really hope she writes more!

Review by the Numbers

Overall: 5/5

Writing: 5/5

Plot: 4/5

Character Development: 4/5

Message: 5/5

Challenges Satisfied

Scotland, U.K. (Reading My Way Around the World Challenge)

Books about Other Groups (Childhood Trauma): (Diversity Challenge)