#100 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
By Gail Honeyman

Book #100, a momentous occasion, but alas, not a momentous book. A quirky book, but somehow, the character didn't jive with who she was supposed to be.

Eleanor is a socially awkward young woman who works in the accounts payable department of a local P.R. firm in Edinburgh (a rarity to find a book which takes place in Scotland!). She spends all her time outside of work alone, and has become an alcoholic, with Vodka her tipple of choice. Gradually, Eleanor starts to "come out" of her isolated life, with the help of her I.T. friend Raymond. Eleanor starts enjoying one of the first friendships of her life, and they start having lunch and going to concerts.

However, all is not right with Eleanor. She comes across as mildly autistic, but there is the disturbing character of her abusive mother and the scars on her face. Gradually the story comes out, after she tries to comment suicide and Raymond finds her, that Eleanor is a seriously damaged being. Her mother was abusive to Eleanor and her sister, and in a horrifying act of cruelty, sets their house on fire with the two children inside. Gradually, working with a counsellor, Eleanor is able to remember the cruelty of this act, and the death of her little sister in the fire.

The writing was good, the pacing was good, the characters well portrayed. What didn't work for me was, the character of Eleanor comes off very well as a mildly autistic person (which doesn't seem to be part of the plot) BUT in my mind, she does not come off as a person who has suffered severe emotional and physical abuse. I think that would have been a different character.

Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: An interesting read. The novel is portrayed as "quirky" but I think it is actually quite horrifying.