Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gaily Honeyman - Review

This was the book for my December book club meeting, and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, so I decided to get to it in November. I borrowed a copy off a friend, which was good. I've heard quite a lot about this book and heard there was a twist, which one friend had guessed and one friend hadn't, so I was intrigued to read it and see if I guessed.

At the beginning of the book we meet Eleanor. She's worked in the same office for years. She doesn't get on with her colleagues, who tease her because they think she's dull. She lives in a flat by herself with only a plant for company. She does the same thing every day. She drinks two bottles of vodka at the weekend. She is extremely controlled in all aspects of her life.

Little by little, we see Eleanor's life unravel. We meet her social worker, we hear from her mother, we see her getting drunker and drunker at weekends. Then she is present when an old man collapses and ends up visiting him with her co-worker Raymond who was also there. She also develops a crush on the lead singer of a local band and starts to scheme as to how she can meet him and get him to fall in love with her. She undertakes a number of things to make this happen, like getting a haircut and a Brazilian wax. Her life starts expanding outwards, and we get to see why she is the way she is and what happened to her when she was younger.

I did guess the twist, but it was really well done and I second guessed myself all the way through. I'm glad the book didn't have a completely happy ending, but I thought it was a nice ending, and I really liked the way Eleanor had overcome a lot of adversity in order to expand her world a bit. She is a strange character, but I really liked her and really fell for her.

I think in general my book club will have liked it, but we'll see!