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Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
$19.95
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A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB PICK#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERUSA Today‘s top 100 books to read while stuck at home social distancing A Penguin Book Club Pick
“Beautifully written and incredibly funny. . . I fell in love with Eleanor; I think you will fall in love, too!” —Reese WitherspoonSmart, warm, uplifting, the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes the only way to survive is to open her heart.No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine.
Eleanor Oliphant is, well, a bit of an oddball–albeit a loveable one. She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking . . . and that, combined with her unusual appearance (scarred cheek, a tendency to wear the same clothes year after year), means that Eleanor has become a bit of a loner. But for Eleanor, nothing really important is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding perplexing social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, Glen’s Vodka, and phone chats with “Mummy.”
But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and sweet IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kind of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repairing her own damaged one.
Smart, warm, and uplifting, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is the story of a quirky yet lonely woman whose social misunderstandings and deeply ingrained routines could be changed forever–if she can bear to confront the secrets she has avoided all her life. But if she does, she’ll learn that she, too, is capable of finding friendship–and even love–after all, if only she can learn to open her heart. AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
Winner of the Costa First Novel Award
Winner of the British Book Award (Debut of the Year and Book of the Year)Shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott PrizeLonglisted for the Women’s Prize for FictionA Penguin Book Club Pick“Beautifully written and incredibly funny. . . . I fell in love with Eleanor.”
—Reese Witherspoon“Eleanor Oliphant is a truly original literary creation: funny, touching, and unpredictable. Her journey out of dark shadows is expertly woven and absolutely gripping.”
—Jojo Moyes, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You“Eleanor Oliphant endears herself to the reader with her cantankerous charm and her disarmingly inscrutable voice. A compulsive, irresistible narrative that arcs toward compassion and light.”
—Mona Awad, author of 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl“So powerful—I completely loved Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.”
—Fiona Barton, New York Times bestselling author of The Widow
“Moving, hilarious, and intriguing, just like its unique, anti-social, anti-heroine. You will fall in love with Eleanor Oliphant.”
—J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest“Like a contemporary Jane Eyre, Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is a woman scarred by profound loneliness, and the shadow of a harrowing childhood she can’t even bear to remember. Bit by bit, and with extraordinary courage, however, Eleanor begins peeling the layers of protective numbness, letting others near for the first time, and reaching for the life she hasn’t believed she deserves. Deft, compassionate and deeply moving—Honeyman’s debut will have you rooting for Eleanor with every turning page. I loved this story.”
—Paula McClain, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife
“Honeyman’s debut is a stunner, as buoyant and charming as it is heartwrenching and emotionally sophisticated. Poor Eleanor Oliphant—often clueless, at times maddening, but always fascinating—walks right off the page and into the reader’s heart. Not only is Eleanor Oliphant completely fine, she’s a revelation.”
—Jonathan Evison, author of This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance
“The book occupies that sweet spot between literary and commercial fiction: a highly readable but beautifully written story that’s as perceptive and wise as it is funny and endearing.”
—The Guardian“…an absolute joy, laugh-out-loud funny but deeply moving.”
—Express UK
“Eleanor Oliphant is more than Completely Fine. She is Unforgettable, Brilliant, Funny and Life-Affirming.”
—The Daily Mail“Witty, charming, and heartwarming, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is a remarkable debut about a singular woman.”
—Booklist (STARRED REVIEW)
“A charmer. . . satisfyingly quirky.”
—Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“Eleanor Oliphant is a quirky loner and a model of efficiency with her routine of frozen pizza, vodka and weekly phone calls with Mummy. [She’s] a woman beginning to heal from unimaginable tragedy, with a voice that is deadpan, heartbreaking and humorous all at once.”
—NPR
“Honeyman’s endearing debut is part comic novel, part emotional thriller, and part love story. . . hilarious, deadpan, and irresistible.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Debut author Honeyman expertly captures a woman whose inner pain is excruciating and whose face and heart are scarred, but who still holds the capacity to love and be loved. Eleanor’s story will move readers.”
—Publishers Weekly
“This wacky, charming novel…draws you in with humor, then turns out to contain both a suspenseful subplot and a sweet romance….Hilarious and moving.”
—People“Eleanor Oliphant [is] the kind of book you’ll want to devour in a single sitting.”
—Vox
“Sweet and satisfying, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine will speak to introverts who have ever felt a little weird about their place in the world.”
—Bustle“Whip-smart . . . Perfectly paced, odd, shocking and hilarious, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is a fascinating story about loneliness, hope, tragedy and humanity. Honeyman’s delivery is wickedly good, and Eleanor won’t leave you anytime soon.”
—Associated Press
“The book is wonderfully, quirkily funny. You both ache for Eleanor. . . and laugh with her.”
—Seattle Times “I fell in love with Eleanor and never wanted the book to end. I wanted so badly to keep following her journey.”
—Krysten Ritter, star of Jessica Jones“[A] funny, deeply touching story . . . [a] beautifully told debut.”
—Independent“Heart-wrenching yet humorous; dark yet full of life—the debut novel from this Glasgow-based author is nothing short of extraordinary. This is a story… that everyone will be talking about this summer.”
—Hello Canada
“[Eleanor Oliphant] happens to be among the most compelling and complex characters drawn in recent memory, one who is always peculiar, often infuriating, but funny and utterly endearing.”
—The National (Scotland)“Gail Honeyman’s wonderful debut novel hits the summer read sweet spot: an intelligent, complex, funny, heartbreaking book that you’ll want to read in a single sitting.”
—The Irish Times
“Another fantastic book about someone outside the norm…. It’s misery memoir meets Adrian Mole with a bit of The Office thrown in. What’s not to like?”
—The Mail on Sunday“Honeyman’s craft with prose is strikingly effective and utterly smart…Perfectly paced, odd, shocking and hilarious, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is a fascinating story about loneliness, hope, tragedy and humanity. Honeyman’s delivery is wickedly good, and Eleanor won’t leave you anytime soon.”
—The Chronicle Herald“[A] captivating debut. . . . This is a must-read for those who love characters with quirks.”
—BookPage“A touching, funny novel.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking. . . Eleanor Oliphant may be completely fine, but this book is completely wonderful.”
—PureWow“Warm and uplifting.”
—POPSUGAR“If you thought Fredrik Backman’s Ove was a charming curmudgeon, you’ll instantly fall for Eleanor.”
—Hello Giggles
“Warm and funny. . . . You’ll want to read it.”
—TheSkimm GAIL HONEYMAN is a graduate of the universities of Glasgow and Oxford. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is a #1 New York Times bestseller, and has won awards around the globe, including the Costa First Novel Award, the British Book Awards Book of the Year, and the BAMB Reader’s Choice Award. This is Honeyman’s debut novel and she lives in Glasgow, Scotland. READERS GUIDEIntroductionAn Introduction to Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
“My life, I realized, had gone wrong. Very, very wrong. I wasn’t supposed to live like this. No one was supposed to live like this. The problem was that I simply didn’t know how to make it right.” (p. 232)
Twenty-nine-year-old accounting clerk Eleanor Oliphant tends to stick to her routine: work all week, buy a supermarket pizza and two bottles of vodka on Friday, and spend the weekend alone in a drunken stupor waiting for Monday to arrive. Eccentric, awkward, and judgmental, Eleanor might sound like the very definition of an antiheroine, yet in debut author Gail Honeyman’s hands, she is refreshingly honest and utterly relatable. With a sharp, albeit unintentional sense of humor and a deeply flawed self-image that makes her all the more sympathetic, Eleanor Oliphant has become one of the most lovable characters in recent fiction—and her creator, Gail Honeyman, has become one of the most celebrated new authors on the international literary scene.
As the novel begins, Eleanor is an opinionated young woman who makes sweeping and often laugh-out-loud pronouncements on everything from duffle coats to bikini waxes. But what first appears to be the narrative of a prudish and harmless loner soon gives way to reveal darker undercurrents, from Eleanor’s childhood in foster homes to an adulthood punctuated by abusive phone calls from her absent mother. In fact, entire years seem to be missing from Eleanor’s past, and ominous memories rise up which she can’t explain to anyone, most of all to herself.
Two events, however, begin to coax Eleanor out of her shell. First, she develops an unexpected crush on a local musician, Johnnie, and, despite never having met him, she embarks on an imaginary love affair—convinced they have a future together. Second, Eleanor and her colleague Raymond rescue an injured elderly man, Sammy, and this act of kindness sets off a ripple effect in which she both builds a relationship with Sammy and his family and forges a friendship with Raymond. Eleanor may be tone-deaf to social convention, but with Raymond’s bemused guidance, she begins to imagine leading the kind of normal life that she never thought possible before.
But just when Eleanor begins to feel truly happy, she discovers the crushing truth about her beloved singer, and her broken fantasy sends her into a spiral of depression and self-harm. Thankfully, Raymond’s friendship saves Eleanor from herself, in ways large and small, and at his urging, she agrees to see a counselor. As she begins to heal, her past is revealed to her in its entirety—and a stunning twist casts the events of the novel in a brand new light.
Questions and Topics for Discussion1. Knowing the truth about Eleanor’s family, look back through the book to revisit her exchanges with her mother. Did you see what was ahead? How did Honeyman lay the groundwork for the final plot twist?
2. What are the different ways that the novel’s title could be interpreted? What do you think happens to Eleanor after the book ends?
3. Eleanor says, “These days, loneliness is the new cancer—a shameful, embarrassing thing, brought upon yourself in some obscure way. A fearful, incurable thing, so horrifying that you dare not mention it; other people don’t want to hear the word spoken aloud for fear that they might too be afflicted” (p. 227). Do you agree?
4. What does Raymond find appealing about Eleanor? And why does Eleanor feel comfortable opening up to Raymond?
5. Eleanor is one of the most unusual protagonists in recent fiction, and some of her opinions and actions are very funny. What were your favorite moments in the novel?
6. “Did men ever look in the mirror, I wondered, and find themselves wanting in deeply fundamental ways? When they opened a newspaper or watched a film, were they presented with nothing but exceptionally handsome young men, and did this make them feel intimidated, inferior, because they were not as young, not as handsome?” (p. 74). Eleanor’s question is rhetorical and slightly tongue-in-cheek, but worth answering. What are your thoughts? If men don’t have this experience, why not? If they do, why is it not more openly discussed?
7. Eleanor is frightened that she may become like her mother. Is this a reasonable fear? What is the balance of nature and nurture?
8. Is it possible to emerge from a traumatic childhood unscathed?
9. Eleanor says, “If someone asks you how you are, you are meant to say FINE. You are not meant to say that you cried yourself to sleep last night because you hadn’t spoken to another person for two consecutive days. FINE is what you say” (p. 226–227). Why is this the case? Janey the secretary had got engaged to her latest Neanderthal, and there was a presentation for her that afternoon. I’d contributed seventy-eight pence to the collection. I only had coppers in my purse or else a five-pound note, and I certainly wasn’t going to put such an extravagant sum into the communal envelope to buy something unnecessary for someone I barely knew. I must have contributed hundreds of pounds over the years to all the leaving present, baby gifts and special birthdays, and what had I ever received in return? My own birthdays pass unremarked.
Whoever had chosen the engagement gift had selected wine glasses and a matching carafe. Such accoutrements are unnecessary when you drink vodka—I simply use my favourite mug. I purchased it in a charity shop some years ago, and it has a photograph of a moon-faced man on one side. He is wearing a brown leather blouson. Along the top, in strange yellow font, it says Top Gear. I don’t profess to understand this mug. It holds the perfect amount of vodka, however, thereby obviating the need for frequent refills.
Janey was planning a short engagement, she’d simpered, and so, of course, the inevitable collection for the wedding present would soon follow. Of all the compulsory financial contributions, that is the one that irks me most. Two people wander around John Lewis picking out lovely items for themselves, and then they make other people pay for them. It’s bare-faced effrontery. They choose things like plates, bowls and cutlery—I mean, what are they doing at the moment: shoveling food from packets into their mouths with their bare hands? I simply fail to see how the act of legally formalizing a human relationship necessitates friends, family and coworkers upgrading the contents of their kitchen for them.
I’ve never actually been to a wedding ceremony. I was invited to Loretta’s evening reception a couple of years ago, along with everyone else from the office. It was in a horrible hotel near the airport, and we organized a minibus to get there; I had to contribute to the cost of that, in addition to my bus fare into town and back. Guests were obliged to buy their own drinks all evening, which shocked me. Entertaining is not my area of expertise, I’ll admit that, but surely, if you are a host, you are responsible for ensuring that your guests are provided with a libation? That’s a basic principle of hospitality, in all societies and cultures, and has been since recorded time. In the event, I drank tap water—I rarely imbibe alcohol in public. I only really enjoy it when I’m alone, at home. They did at least serve tea and coffee later in the evening, free of charge; this was accompanied by poor-quality savory pastries and, bizarrely, slices of Christmas cake. For hours and hours, there was a disco, and terrible people danced in a terrible way to terrible music. I sat on my own and no one asked me to dance and I was absolutely fine with that.
The other guests did seem to be enjoying themselves, or at least I assume that to have been the case. They were shuffling on the dance floor, red-faced and drunk. Their shoes looked uncomfortable, and they were shouting the words of the songs into each other’s faces. I’ll never go to such an event again. It simply wasn’t worth it, just for a cup of tea and a slice of cake. The evening wasn’t completely wasted, however, because I managed to slip almost a dozen sausage rolls into my shopper, wrapped in serviettes, for later. US
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| Weight | 1 oz |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 1 × 5 × 8 in |