Comment

Sep 12, 2018natcin7 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
First time novelist, Gail Honeyman, has written a smart, funny story about a 30-year-old lonely office worker in Scotland. Despite having worked for nine years at the same place, Eleanor Oliphant does not relate to her co-workers and has no friends. She lives the life of a recluse until one day she becomes a good Samaritan helping an older man who has collapsed on the street. This one unselfish act opens up her world and leads to her experiencing friendship and love for the first time in her adult life. Eleanor is a fervent crossword puzzle aficionado and dispenses bon mots and literary morsels in her naïve observations about people and society. Some of her comments are "laugh out loud" funny. I will not be able to go to the hair salon or get a manicure from now on without thinking about Eleanor and her thoughts about the absurdity of it all. This could have been a very bleak story about the effects of a tragic childhood. Instead, it's a delightful, literate story of a young woman's triumphant survival. Yes, Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine! Can't wait for Ms. Honeyman's next novel.