'There are days when I feel so lightly connected to the earth that the threads that tether me to the planet are gossamer thin, spun sugar.'

I kept seeing this book popping up everywhere but for some reason, potentially the title it gave me the feeling it was going to be a children's book, even though I actually knew it wasn't one. Just something about it, maybe I was judging a book by its cover (naughty) but I really didn't fancy it. Then Netgalley sent me an email about it and I thought why the heck not? Let's see what everyone's raving about. My, my, my am I glad I did!
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is the debut novel from Gail Honeyman and the main character Eleanor Oliphant is best described as a mix between Jane Eyre and Sheldon Cooper. Eleanor lives a life which basically involves working in an office, eating a meal deal for lunch each day, listening to The Archers and reading books about anything. She has no friends and her only conversation is with her 'mummy' every week on a Wednesday.



This story held me, it drew me in and kept me there and I couldn't pull myself away until I'd finished it. Eleanor was, despite her oddities extremely likeable and it was all to easy to empathise with her situation while desperately trying to work out how she got there. There's plenty of clues along the way and it all comes together in the end but getting there is done in such a way that we watch Eleanor unfold like a crushed flower still desperately trying to open.



This is not a sad book, but neither is it a happy one, what it is is interesting from start to finish and so like real life, it makes you question your very existence, the way you treat other people and the small things that seemingly mean nothing but can really turn someone's life around for the better. What a truly amazing book!

I'd heard a lot about this book on social media and Goodreads, however the cover did not seem something I'd usually lean towards. Eleanor OIiphant is quite possibly my favourite character in a book, ever. She's relatable, sassy and ever so loveable. I was asked recently what this book was about, which I found very hard to answer. This is definitely a book you just have to read. I shed a little tear at the end, for both Eleanor and the fact that it was over. I'd thoroughly recommend this book to anyone. If you're unsure if this is your usual genre, read it. If you're unsure if it's thrilling enough, just read it. I love you Eleanor!

I do enjoy a quirky character and Eleanor Oliphant really hit the spot. She had me laughing out loud and I know I won't be able to drink prosecco without bringing to mind her description of it as 'urine-coloured fizzy liquid'. I really enjoyed the developing friendship between her and her colleague Raymond. There were a few truly moving bits and overall I found it a heartwarming story. I am a little sad to have finished the story as I felt I was just getting to know the real Eleanor.

A thoroughly enjoyable, quirky and funny book that will appear to fans of perceptive and original fiction.

What a lovely little book. Full of hope and wonder. It was an easy read and full of chuckles but also dotted with sadness and if you take time to read this, realise what Eleanor is saying, what she stands for and what she represents, the messages are clear. We should all be just that little bit nicer to each other as it makes a BIg difference. That and there are many Eleanor's in the world waiting to make us smile.

"I simply didn't know how to make things better. I couldn't solve the puzzle of me."

* * * *
4 / 5

I found this book quite hard to read. Definitely a change of tone and genre from the kind of book that I normally peruse, Eleanor Oliphant's synopsis intrigued me. A young woman with poor social skills, a quiet life of small routines that is changed when she and Raymond, an awkward man from work, help an elderly man who had fallen on the pavement. It's a touching, thoughtful, and overall lovely work from a debut author.

"I do exist, don't I? It often feels as if I'm not here, that I'm a figment of my own imagination. There are days when I feel so lightly connected to the earth"

Good days. Or so it seems - Eleanor Oliphant's life is okay in every sense of the word. She has a roof over her head, a job that doesn't risk her life, her financial situation is fairly stable. She's along because she chooses to be and everything in her life can be timetabled. Eleanor's life is grey. In fact, she herself is a rather grey character; she's a sympathetic character with a difficult past. But she's also socially terrible and refers to her mother, unironically, as Mummy. Her life is just fine until two separate events occur:

One: She meets Raymond the IT guy. He's friendly but can't seem to dress himself, easy-going and Eleanor is just not interested in talking to him. But if she wants to get her work computer fixed, she's going to have to.

Two: Eleanor and Raymond walk home in vaguely the same direction (she doesn't want anyone to know where she lives) when the see an elderly man fall. Eleanor wants to just keep walking, but Raymond insists on stopping to see if he's okay. The two end up visiting Sammy in hospital; Raymond because he's a nice man, Eleanor because she feels some vague sense of social obligation.

"Oh yes," she said, and I heard her dismissive sideways hiss of cigarette smoke. "It was just that I wanted to tell you that you're a pointless waste of human tissue. That was all. Bye then, darling!" she said, bright as knife. Silence.

Bad days. I found this section of the book genuinely very difficult to read. I had to keep putting it down and walking away to do something else because Honeyman captured very well that sense of despair and gloom that depression can bring. The futileness, the anger, the self-pity. The greyness. Then there's Eleanor's own personal tragedy, slowly revealed through therapist appointments, flashbacks, and Eleanor's introspective thoughts.

"I began to realise the truth. I blinked again and again, as though my eyes were trying to clear the view before them, and it crystallised."

Better days. The more hopeful, heartwarming part. The recovery and the moving on. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is a excellent book, thoughtful and clever. It is perhaps a little rough in a debut author sort of way - the ending was a little jarring, Eleanor perhaps verged into being an unsympathetic character a couple of times, the metaphors a little too kooky - but it is an emotional and heart-jerking read. Highly recommend.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book.

Absolutely brilliant debut! Thoroughly believable characters, it could have been a biography!

I adored this book. Funny, incisive, sensitive and real.

Still feeling delicate from this book - in a good way! I didn't realise how emotionally involved I felt about Eleanor until the end and have just wept everywhere. Will write a better review when I have some distance and capabili of speech but in shirt, it's wonderful.

An incredible, incredible book. One of the best I've ever read. The characters in this book are so beautifully drawn, and stay with you for a long time afterwards. A very unusual and beautifully unique book.

Eleanor Oliphant is a heroine. Not a heroine in the winsome looks and killer wardrobe stakes sense. Nor in the leader of the girlie gang sense. You just want to hug her. Odd really, because Eleanor Oliphant is a deeply unappealing person. Look round your office, there is probably an Eleanor, they don't join in with the merry banter of the office, put spare change into the collection for leaving gifts, wear the same deeply unfashionable clothes every day and is just generally peculiar. You haven't laughed about her back, because you are a nice person, but you know of lots that have.

Eleanor is completely fine with this, as the title implies. She needs nobody. The fact that she drinks herself to oblivion every weekend, to escape the fact that she will neither see nor talk to another living soul from Friday evening to Monday morning, is neither here nor there. She functions, everything is fine.

Then one Friday one random act of kindness changes everything. Suddenly there are people and cats. Eleanor gets a makeover. Not just new clothes and make up but a whole rewiring of her self esteem. Obviously its not that simple. Gail Honeyman tells the tale of Eleanor Elephant with great skill and sympathy. The twists and turns of Eleanor's past and present are revealed to us in deft strokes.

I loved the language and images that Gail Honeyman deploys. When a bunch of flowers arrives the accompanying card is described as being like a hamsters birthday card, that is how I will think of those teeny tiny greetings from now on. Best of all is the name Eleanor Oliphant. Ellie, sounds like Nellie and reminds of elephants which in turn sounds like Oliphant (and indeed my spell check insists that is what I should be typing). Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

OK we are not even half way through the year but I think that Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine might just be my book of the year, it is certainly the best one so far..

What an unusual story with a strange likeable character. She did remind me of a female Sheldon out of The Big Bang Theory at times, socially awkward with no filter. Even though at times I found her really funny it is quite a dark storyline. Had me gripped, well worth a read.

Having heard a lot about this book, I was very keen to see what all the fuss was about. Usually I find myself disappointed when so much praise precedes a book. But not this time! I found this book incredibly moving. I fell in love with Eleanor Oliphant, and willed her to be happy throughout the course of the novel. There is a fantastic mix of humour, wit, sensitivity and sadness in Eleanor's story, which is excellently portrayed by the writer. Some people have said that the ending leaves it open for a sequel, but I this book is perfect by itself. A fantastic book which I will be pressing into the hands of friends and family.

I'd read a lot of praise for this book before I really knew anything about the actual plot.  So, I guess when I started reading I already had quite high expectations.  Initially I felt disappointed.  Whilst Eleanor is a character you can't help but engage with, I couldn't quite decide how I felt about her.  At times I was irritated by her and at others I loved her candid outlook and her 'couldn't-care-less' attitude.  As the book progressed and more hints were made towards Eleanor's past and her upbringing, my reading pace sped up as I was desperate to unravel  the mystery. 

Without a doubt this is a heart-warming read, that reminds us how our actions, no matter how small, can cause a ripple through the lives of others.  Will I necessarily remember the plot details this time next year? I doubt it. But will I ever forget Eleanor Oliphant? No way.

4.5 stars. This is a heartwarming and heartbreaking read in equal measure, and Eleanor Oliphant is something of a triumph as a character. Straight-talking, socially inept, judgmental but wholly likeable.

"I do not light up a room when I walk into it. No one longs to see me or hear my voice. I do not feel sorry for myself, not in the least. These are simply statements of fact."

Eleanor lives her life simply, ruled by routines and rituals. Life is ordered and predictable, just as she likes it. But then two things happen - finding herself uncharacteristically out at night, at a gig, Eleanor falls head over heels for the leading man in the band and decides immediately that he is 'the one'. She then launches herself into fastidious, obsessive research about her intended and plots the moment where he'll sweep her off her feet. Secondly, while trying to do her usual Friday night shop, she and a work colleague, Raymond (who Eleanor doesn't feel overly warm towards) end up saving the life of an elderly man who collapses in front of them. Both of these events lead Eleanor to change some of the rules and routines that have held her carefully ordered life in place for so long....but what happened to make her impose them in the first place?

What is revealed is truly horrific, and Honeyman does a great job of pulling back the curtains of Eleanor's long suppressed memories and childhood trauma. The ending is very neat, which I think works...and it is nice to see Eleanor blossom and attempt to move into the future after spending so long trapped in the past.

If you enjoyed Toni Jordan's Addition or Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Project, you'll find room in your heart for Eleanor as well.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

This is one of those books which is pretty hard to categorize. It turned out to be not quite what I was expecting - but in a good way. I read a description which called it a laugh out loud comedy and this very nearly put me off! Yes it has some hilarious moments but mainly it is deeply emotional, with some quite dark moments and I was unable to completely put aside the fact that Eleanor is the way she is, as a survivor of something quite dreadful which is a very dark layer to the book.

Eleanor is a wonderful quirky character, she never quite fits in, she won't conform, she sees the world differently to most people and behaves in unusual ways, reacting to everyday occurrences with bewilderment and inappropriate attitudes, she is lonely and isolated and in some ways is like an elderly woman in others like a newborn, very innocent and childlike. Her social graces aren't just lacking they are practically non existent.

Anyone who has ever worked in a large office based organisation will recognize Eleanor, she is the hard working, slightly weird spinster whose eccentric manner of dress and speech and mannerisms makes us roll our eyes, but its all right because she just gets on with her job and we don't HAVE to include her in our conversations, we don't have to sit with her in the canteen and we certainly don't have to get to know her!

Eleanor's life centres around her unfulfilling job, with colleagues she just can't seem to figure out, who don't include her and often mock and even bully her. Then she goes home to her non existent social life, to spend time in her shabby single flat furnished with cast offs, pour a glass (or three) of vodka and waits for the weekend to disappear before returning to her desk to do it all over again. I bet there are far too many of us who can relate to ALL of this!

But we mustn't forget her weekly phone call to Mother, nasty Mother, sly Mother, loathsome Mother, but she is Eleanors only relative and above all else she is a dutiful daughter.

But Eleanors life is about to change and it's all because of a man! She is ready to fall in love, when she comes across her perfect man and gradually begins to blossom.

Yes, this is romantic fiction but it is also one of the most profound books I've ever read too. I defy anyone to read this and not warm to Eleanor after an initial bafflement and frustration at her idiosyncrasies. I laughed, groaned, smiled and sobbed in equal measure as Eleanor tore my heart to pieces and made me feel guilty for not being more tolerant to people who don't follow my rule book.

There aren't enough superlatives in my vocabulary to describe how utterly captivating and delightful I found this book to be. So just read it - I'm sure it won't disappoint.

This is my absolute favourite book so far of 2017. I just wanted to make everything all right for Eleanor. Five star plus if that was an available goodreads option. Its a difficult book to review without spoilers, just read it.

Let me start by saying I was surprised by this book. I don’t know quite what I was expecting from it, but it definitely wasn’t what it is. It probably wouldn’t have been on my radar if it hadn’t come up for review on Netgalley.

Eleanor Oliphant is, as per title, completely fine. No, really. She is. She works in an office, she has extremely limited human interaction, which she’s relatively happy with as the alternative would be mixing with people, and that would be hideous. Eleanor is…unusual. She seems to be missing a tact filter, and instead speaks as she thinks – honestly, logically, and factually, which in theory should be fine, but in real life is actually quite awkward and she can (and does!) come across as rude and a wee bit offensive. As we go deeper into Eleanor’s life, we realise that not only does she not have anyone in her life, she doesn’t really know what that would be like. Her thoughts reflect that of an incredibly lonely person, but she doesn’t really seem to understand that life doesn’t have to be that way, or realise that she is actually lonely. As previously established, she’s fine.

Early on in the book, Eleanor has a arrow through the heart moment. She comes into contact with someone who she can see herself being with, settling down with, having a ‘normal’ life with. This realisation leads to behaviour bordering on obsession, and it’s an uncomfortable read as you watch her feelings grow and develop for this wholly unsuitable individual who doesn’t even know she exists. Eleanor has a plan though, and this involves bringing her frumpy, sensible self and her velcroed shoes screaming (literally) into a plucked (well, waxed), primped and fashionably dressed contender, even if she doesn’t really understand why she has to.

Eleanor’s “Mummy” is an ever-present feature in her life, although she’s not actually there with her, Eleanor speaks to her weekly on the telephone and she always ends up devastated by the content of the conversation. Mummy is a bully. I’ll let you find out more about that as you read the book, but she is an all round horrid creature. We learn more about their relationship and why Eleanor is the way she is as we move through the story.

A series of unusual circumstances bring Eleanor together with Raymond, a colleague from IT with whom she has had minimal exchanges, but who ends up showing her a side of life she didn’t realise was there. Through counselling, and her new-found friend, Eleanor starts to understand that she can move outside of her comfort zone and nothing bad will happen. Reality starts to bite. Her past starts to make sense. She starts to experience feelings, emotions, excitement, self-awareness and confusion – all quite alien concepts to her, and slowly, but surely we watch her grow, blossom and start to realise that actually, Eleanor Olliphant really is going to be completely fine.

An unusual, well written, beautifully developed book.

This book wormed its way to the top of my review pile . I read a few pages and the curiously insistent voice of the narrator, Eleanor made me turn to this book compulsively.

Eleanor starts out as a mouse -like outsider (whose only friend is a pot plant) She observes her office colleagues and people in general as if they were Martians with strange habits. However her own life is one of habits- her weekends consist of a pizza and 2 bottles of vodka.

Then she has mysterious scars on her face and weekly phone calls to the sinister "Mummy" and so you begin to wonder what is her dark secret?

The catalyst for change is when she helps a colleague , Raymond , rescue a collapsed man. Through this event she starts to get more involved in the life of Ray and the man they helped , Sammy . The scene when she first visits Ray's Mum with him is beautifully described. The author conveys the warmth of the relationship he has with his Mum which contrasts sharply with the "troubled" one Eleanor has with her Mum.

Her gradual introduction into society means that Eleanor is able to make some very funny observations on the society she is joining.

"I have often noticed that people who routinely wear sportswear are the least likely to participate in athletic activity"

".The Barman had created strange, enormous holes in his earlobes... For some reason I was reminded of my shower curtain"

"I rapidly became acquainted with a new culinary family: Aunt Bessie, Captain Birdseye and Uncle Ben"

One of my favourite scenes is when she is getting a makeover in a department store and decides to wear the clothes straightaway. They are trying to "detag" her while she is wearing the clothes and she has to climb on the till so the shop assistants can do this. Another hilarious scene is her misunderstanding of what a "Hollywood" wax is. Through Eleanor's "makeovers", Honeyman explores norms of female body image and beauty with humour.

Of course the reader is able to see what might happen with her developing "crush" on the perfect musician.

There is a warmth and compassion in the writing whilst it it also unflinching in looking at Eleanor's past which is gradually revealed
"Always alone, always dark"


This was a hugely entertaining book with a heart and much Adrian Mole like social satire . I will be rereading this one and have recommended it to my fellow booksellers.