For me, I could relate to the feelings of loneliness, I’m sure most of us can. Eleanor is a character we can all relate to on some level. We learn that Eleanor isn’t putting her guard up out of rudeness, it’s for self-preservation. As a reader, you go from rooting for her through to urging her to make friends with Raymond, to frustration when she shuts herself off. She drinks to get through the weekend, to take the edge off, to blur away the ache. It soon transpires that the reason for the vodka is that Eleanor is unbearably lonely.

It’s this dripping of information, like the vodka, that shocks you and leaves you feeling those ripples long after you have closed the book.Įleanor might be a woman of routine but, as a reader, you find her widely unpredictable, you are unsure of what is going to be revealed next. That routine also involves a pizza from Tesco on a Friday evening and two bottles of vodka to get her through to Monday. She is someone who needs absolute order, she is rigid with her routine. She can come across as cold and devoid of empathy. When we first meet Eleanor we see her as someone who appears to be a bit of a social outcast. Without wanting to give too much away - because there is a twist, a twist that smacks you in the chest and crushes your heart - I want to tell you all about this novel and the wonderful Eleanor. You are rooting for Eleanor, I adored her, Eleanor is a fighter. I didn’t want to finish reading because Eleanor had become like a friend. I felt like I had been on this rollercoaster of a journey with her. By the end of the novel my whole opinion of Eleanor had changed. However, over time as the novel progresses, we learn more about her eccentric ways and we grow to love her. You start off feeling confused towards Eleanor, we don’t understand her. Our feelings reflect the feelings of the other characters in the novel, the characters who come into contact with Eleanor. As the novel developed so did my feelings towards her. Eleanor is a complex but very real heroine. I might have been sat amongst boxes and boxes but this book transported me to Glasgow and Eleanor’s world, a world that at first feels very lonely and bleak. I devoured this novel, surrounded by the carnage of a house move. This book arrived just as I was moving house, yet I couldn’t put the book down.

I had heard the hype surrounding the book and, therefore, I had very high hopes - it did not disappoint.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is a breathtaking debut novel from Gail Honeyman.

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