This marvelous debut
novel is mainstream, not genre, but with overtones of “domestic thriller” and
superb handling of an unreliable narrator. The growth of the central character
skillfully parallels the gradual revelation of her past.
At first, Eleanor
Oliphant seems to be a tediously bland, often annoying office worker. Her
social skills leave a great deal to be desired, she’s compulsively
routine-bound, and she rebuffs every effort at friendship. Although she insists
to herself and to everyone else that she is completely fine, her weekly phone
chats with her emotionally abusive Mummy result in weekly bouts of heavy drinking.
Her doomed infatuation with a third-rate singer provides more fodder for
Mummy’s manipulations.
At first, I thought
that her problem was that she was a functional alcoholic, but the situation turned
out to be much more complex and nuanced. From the beginning, there are hints of
a deeper, darker story. When Eleanor and Raymond, a big-hearted if physically
unattractive IT guy, rescue an elderly man who collapses on the street, Eleanor
gets drawn into new social circles and relationships. The walls she has built
around her profound emotional damage begin to crumble. Needless to say, in
Honeyman’s capable hands, there is more than one surprise along the way.
Highly recommended.
A tour-de-force of the heart.
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