Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

 

This was a slow-to-warm-up, but so-glad-I-stuck-with-it experience for me.

I have to confess, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this, the book’s namesake, Eleanor Oliphant, is pretty darn unbearable for awhile.  A pretentious, condescending, fastidious, opinionated and socially isolated woman with mommy issues, she’s not an easy character to feel warmth towards initially, which can be challenging when you’re trying to get invested in a story.  Vague glimpses of a traumatic past give small insights into what has formed her into the woman she currently is, which gave me the sympathy and patience to bear with her character’s journey towards the revealing and emotionally satisfying end.  I will say her character’s evolution in the latter half of the book is far more enjoyable.

Along the way, Eleanor discovers friendship with Raymond, a lovable, slightly uncultured co-worker, who, through circumstantial fate and intention, slowly opens her world to other people and social experiences, and supports her on her path towards healing.  In a separate, and I think largely unnecessary, storyline that follows the standard “I must become aesthetically pleasing to gain the attention of a man” trope, she makes personal changes in a misguided effort to attract the attention of a crush. I was thankful for that part of the story to end.   As for her past, I had an idea fairly early on of what the end might reveal, and I wasn’t too far off the mark, but even if I’d had it completely right, it wouldn’t have made the revelation any less gratifying.

The book is described on the cover in a Reese Witherspoon quote as “beautifully written and incredibly funny”.  Beautifully written … yes.  I’m not sure ‘incredibly funny’ is how I would describe it.  It’s certainly infused with a quiet, droll humor throughout, but it’s certainly not ‘haha’ funny.  There’s also melancholy and soberness to it, considering it’s about a woman who’s literally and figuratively been scarred by her past.  It touches on physical and emotional abuse, family trauma, rape, relational abuse, depression, mental illness, suicidality, death, and alcohol abuse.  To have that be the marketing quote on the cover, I’m not sure serves readers well, since it may give them the impression they’re about to dive into a cover-to-cover light-hearted, warm and fuzzy rom-com.  There are conversations between Eleanor and her “Mummy” that are downright brutal, and may trigger those who come from similar backgrounds.  Having said that, if you can stick with her journey of self-discovery, it’s totally worth it.

★★★★ 1/2