This book review was written by Daria Melikova of Richard Montgomery High School
Trigger Warning: This book includes mentions of suicide and addiction.
Gail Honeyman’s debut novel, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, is a stunningly written and wonderfully enticing story centered on an equally unique and intriguing main character. Filled with themes of friendship, kindness and loneliness, this book will prove to be a deeply emotional and remarkable read.
Stemming from her social awkwardness, Eleanor Oliphant keeps entirely to herself and to her routine. Every weekday is the same, at the same company she’s been working at since she graduated college, with essentially the same timetable from getting to work to leaving to going to sleep. The monotony of these days only changes on Wednesdays when she calls “Mummy” for ten minutes. Her weekends are no better as she spends them drowning out her aloneness with vodka, merely waiting for the week to start over.
At 29 years old, Eleanor is entirely alone: she has no friends, her mother is far from supportive, and she feels as if her colleagues spend their time hating and laughing at her. Nonetheless, Eleanor believes she is completely fine, that she isn’t missing out on anything and that, overall, she’s perfectly content with life. Yet the truth is, Eleanor has been incredibly lonely in her life of complete isolation. It’s clear that while she may believe that she’s fine, she has simply learned how to survive, not how to truly live.
However, things begin to change when Eleanor meets Raymond, the friendly IT guy from her work. Though initially disgusted by his inelegance, they begin to form a friendship when they help save a sickly old man together. As they spend more time together, Eleanor’s carefully planned out life comes apart, perhaps for the better, as she opens her world to new experiences, new encounters and new acquaintances. As she starts to want more for herself and want more than just fine, she is forced to come to terms with her past and learn to move forward, to find the courage to accept and respect her desire for more from life.
I found it incredibly refreshing how wonderfully unique and well-developed the characters were, especially Eleanor. While initially she may be hard to understand and is even pretty unlikeable, being able to learn more about Eleanor’s past and see her growth throughout the story really made me love, respect and sympathize with her.
Eleanor has a very distinct voice, with her impeccable grammar and sophisticated word choice, but lacking social experience; she often says exactly what she’s thinking, which can sometimes be quite offensive. With some of the oddities of her character, it may be hard to relate to her, but Eleanor has so many layers to her that pull readers closer to her and help them to understand her in a way they may not have originally.
Having no one to help her navigate the social sphere, Eleanor feels the pressure of needing to fit into society and be accepted yet struggles to understand how to do so. I feel like everyone has experienced this pressure to belong at some point so I found it really nice to see Eleanor navigate some of the absurd rules we go by, even if her worries may be slightly different. Furthermore, it is later revealed how much her life has been shaped by trauma and mental illness, yet Honeyman doesn’t let this get in the way of her engaging personality, making the depiction all the more realistic. Eleanor is honestly such a strong person and seeing her journey to recovery, even if it’s not absolute, was incredibly emotional and important to read.
“These magazines could tell me which clothes and shoes to wear, how to have my hair styled in order to fit in. They could show me the right kind of makeup to buy and how to apply it. This way, I would disappear into everywoman acceptability. I would not be stared at. The goal, ultimately, was successful human camouflage as a human woman.” —Eleanor Oliphant, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman)
Besides Eleanor, there’s Raymond Gibbons from IT who is practically her complete opposite: he’s easygoing, friendly and, much to Eleanor’s dismay, quite sloppy and laid back. I found him to be just as enticing a character as Eleanor with his delightful personality and wonderful kindness. However, what I particularly enjoyed was the friendship between him and Eleanor. While they both struggle to understand each other at first, as they spend more time together and truly get to know one another they come to accept and appreciate each other, especially for their originally irksome oddities.
Their friendship serves as a reminder that truly important relationships don’t happen all at once and don’t necessarily have to seem meant to be; it takes effort, and often a long time, to reach a closeness where it’s comfortable to share and interact with each other. Their relationship also reveals an important theme of kindness, of being more understanding of others. As Raymond and Eleanor slowly grow fond of each other, we really see how much kindness can go a long way and help someone even if you don’t fully understand what they’re going through.
“I smiled at her. Twice in one day, to be the recipient of thanks and warm regard! I would never have suspected that small deeds could elicit such genuine, generous responses. I felt a little glow inside—not a blaze, more like a small, steady candle.” —Raymond Gibbons, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman)
While the story is mainly character-driven, the plot is still very strong and enticing with plenty going on. As Eleanor navigates her way through life, learning how to stand up for herself and seek more, readers are constantly kept curious, wanting to understand her and her past. Thus, there are plenty of plot twists that can take a turn for the devastating providing for a deeply emotional read.
A big part of this book is its exploration of mental health, especially in regards to loneliness, a component largely inspired by an article Honeyman had written about exceptionally lonely people. From the beginning, we see that although Eleanor convinces herself that she’s fine, she is clearly missing out on life, perhaps unconsciously too anxious to step out into society. Her reliance on a set routine, devoid of any unnecessary human contact, and the way that her life unravels when this routine is disrupted indicates this social anxiety and fear of unpredictability.
Having come up with this system in which she avoids nearly all situations that could possibly go wrong, Eleanor has completely isolated herself and with each day only continues to do so. Her addiction to alcohol solidifies this, serving as her only way to escape the pain of her utter aloneness. As Eleanor’s heartbreaking past is revealed, readers are able to glean a deeper understanding of the original cause of her isolation and perhaps learn to be less quick to judge.
“When the silence and the aloneness press down and around me, crushing me, carving through me like ice, I need to speak aloud sometimes, if only for proof of life.”—Eleanor Oliphant, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman)
The entire book is tied together by the incredible writing. At times, it was so beautifully written that it felt almost like poetry, and because it flowed so naturally, it was almost impossible to set down. Altogether, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine proved to be an incredible and completely unforgettable read, eliciting so many wonderful emotions with its charming yet heartbreaking story.
“...it often feels as if I’m not here, that I am a figment of my own imagination. There are days when I feel so lightly connected to the earth that the threads that tether me to the plant are gossamer thin, spun sugar. A strong gust of wind could dislodge me completely, and I’d lift off and blow away, like one of those seeds in a dandelion clock.”—Eleanor Oliphant, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman)
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