A Book Review: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeymoon

When the Librarian handed me a book called Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, she commented on how the book was "unputdownable". Despite her assurance of the book's quality, I was not thrilled. In fact, I was thinking to myself, "man, this one looks like chick lit. Not my type of book!"

I borrowed the book anyway, because my book club prescribed this book in July. I spent the next three nights reading the book and it surprised me. This book defied my expectations at every turn. This book reminded me of why you should never judge a book by its name. This novel is not chick lit, nope. Instead, I discovered a touching story about kindness and dealing with past traumas.

The book tells the story of one Eleanor Oliphant, a young lady whose life was "fine". Eleanor lived in an apartment, she worked in a stable job, and every Friday night she celebrated the weekend with a frozen pizza and some vodka, followed by a chat with her mom.

All of this goes to say that Elearnor was doing "ok" at making a living. Her life was carefully structured, always on track. However, she avoided social interactions. This is because Eleanor didn't have good social skills, and she had the tendency to speak what she thought.

Life brought its own surprises when Eleanor met Raymond, who is an IT geek from her office. These two became unlikely friends. An intentional act of kindness followed, and it transformed Eleanor's life, where she discovered that life should be more than just "fine".

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is the debut novel for Gail Honeymoon. This novel won multiple awards and apparently a movie adaptation is on the way. I am grateful to the person who suggested this book to my book club, because this one is worth reading.

You might develop the impression, that this book is a contemporary romantic comedy, but I can assure you it is not. The opening chapters of the book introduced me to Eleanor Oliphant, and she was a bit isolated and self-centred. Eleanor had a contradictory nature; she was very clever but also naive, and she was harsh but also vulnerable. In the beginning I did not like Eleanor. However, as the story went on, the author provided me with more information about her, and I began to understand why Eleanor acted the ways she did. From there, this book explored the psychological effects from childhood trauma. At times, the story was gut-wrenching. However, this book does not spell gloom and doom, because this book reminded me of a powerful, but simple truth - that it is never too late for any of us, and that an act of kindness, no matter how small, or unintended, can cause profound changes in someone's life and then expanding into others', just like how a pebble landing in a still pond can create small ringlets which turn into large ripples.