Eleanor Oliphant took me totally by surprise. I fell in love with her. I wanted to protect her, and be her friend, and help her escape the loneliness that she was immersed in.
And that’s one of the themes in this book: loneliness. And it made me wonder how many people are out there in our cities, going to their mundane jobs Monday to Friday, then spending their weekends alone with a bottle of vodka, before returning to work on Monday.
So this sounds like a sad book - and it is - but it’s also a whole lot more! Apart for anything else, Eleanor Oliphant is a really funny girl! She calls a spade, a spade, and there are many laugh out loud moments to savour in this book.
Ultimately this is a novel about unconditional love, and how a life can be blighted without it. But it is also about how generous people can be, and how all it takes is the touch of another human to make it all ok. Ultimately, this is an uplifting read - highly recommended.