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A review by monalyisha
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
4.0
My favorite professor in college had a mellifluous voice. He often used “fine” as a descriptor: to refer to a passage or a student’s careful and attentive interpretation of a text. He meant “fine” as “exquisite.” It was a quirk I loved. When I think about Honeyman’s work, I hear him describing it as “fine” (though certainly, it wasn’t as dense as our typical class fare). Eleanor Oliphant is funny, heartbreaking, and hopeful.
She’s a character, to be sure: a little over the top, a little unbelievable. As Eleanor herself observes [of Sense & Sensibility], “It all ends happily, which is highly unrealistic, but, I must admit, narratively satisfying.” Still, the emotions she inhabits and elicits are absolutely real.
In “A Conversation with Gail Honeyman” she explains, “When loneliness is discussed, it’s often in the context of the elderly, but I began to think about how it might manifest in younger people.” This is so poignant & so important, & Eleanor is a complex vessel for exploring these ideas (as we all are). A trifle sentimental, but I like that in a novel, sometimes. I couldn’t put this one down.
*TW: abuse, self-harm, mental illness, death, grief.
She’s a character, to be sure: a little over the top, a little unbelievable. As Eleanor herself observes [of Sense & Sensibility], “It all ends happily, which is highly unrealistic, but, I must admit, narratively satisfying.” Still, the emotions she inhabits and elicits are absolutely real.
In “A Conversation with Gail Honeyman” she explains, “When loneliness is discussed, it’s often in the context of the elderly, but I began to think about how it might manifest in younger people.” This is so poignant & so important, & Eleanor is a complex vessel for exploring these ideas (as we all are). A trifle sentimental, but I like that in a novel, sometimes. I couldn’t put this one down.
*TW: abuse, self-harm, mental illness, death, grief.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Self harm