Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is the first novel written by the British author Gail HoneyMan. Eleanor Oliphant’s story is about how she managed her life alone with great pride. She is thirty years old, and have been working in an office since she was twenty one years in a graphic design company in Glasgow from when she left university. She worked as a finance clerk where she found graphic design was no interest to her. She speaks on the phone to mummy once a week and drinks two liters of vodka, eats frozen pizza every weekend. Her mother thinks Eleanor Oliphant shared a strong bond with mummy. Whatsoever, she was raised by foster carers in her childhood. Even when she is hurting, tearful and lonely, Eleanor Oliphant is fine.
I loved the way Eleanor had an opinion about everything that was happening around her life including the people associated to her. In the first few chapters, she meets Raymond Gibbons an IT consultant when her computer stopped working and she wanted to get it repaired. She gets to go out for parties and lunches invited by Raymond Gibbons where she forgets about her crush - the Musician she adored dearly. Eleanor thought Raymond walked unattractively and was a chain smoker.
Quote from the book - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine: "I feel sorry for beautiful people. Beauty, from the moment you possess it, it is already slipping away, ephemeral. That must be difficult. Always having to prove that there is more to you, wanting people to see beneath the surface, to be loved for yourself, and not your stunning body, sparkling eyers or thick, lustrous hair."
"The most professions, getting older means getting better at your job, earning respect because of your seniority and experience. If your job depends on your looks, the opposite is true-how depressing. Suffering other people's unkindness must be difficult too; all those bitter, less attractive people, jealous and resentful of your beauty. That's incredibly unfair of them. After all, beautiful people didn't ask to be born that way. It's as unfair to dislike someone because they're attractive as it is to dislike someone because of deformity."
“These days, loneliness is the new cancer—a shameful, embarrassing thing, brought upon yourself in some obscure way. A fearful, incurable thing, so horrifying that you dare not mention it; other people don’t want to hear the word spoken aloud for fear that they might too be afflicted, or that it might tempt fate into visiting a similar horror upon them.”
Eleanor had a crush, like how a teenager would feel, on a musician named Johnnie Lomond who she followed in Tweets and Instagram who was very handsome and talented also whom she wished to meet someday.
I would recommend this heart warming, witty and lovely read that won the costa first novel award. Recommended! For the British book awards for 2018, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine won the "Début Book of the Year" and "Overall Winner" awards.
Disclosure of Material: I have received a review copy of this book by the publisher in the form of e-book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”
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