2023~Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

Gail Honeyman. 2017.

This book is incredibly depressing.  The complexity of backstory of the main character, Eleanor, is impressive and the way it unfolds and is revealed reflects the strong writing here.  But the book is sad, sad, sad as it follows the growth of a woman whose childhood trauma has stunted her emotional development in painful ways that leave her isolated and alone as a result of her lack of social skills.  She has carved out a living and something akin to a life when the book begins, but a friendship with a co-worker results in her reaching for more.  There is a lot of depth to the book, but it doesn't show up until after I had started to lose interested in the plot.  I typically don't love a "happy ending" in a book like this, with so much unresolved childhood trauma, but the lack of a happy ending here also left me uneasy.  All in all, I just can't recommend it, but I also cannot not recommend it because it really is an interesting and well-written narrative about a hard life.

Not not recommended.
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