Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

by Gail Honeyman

They were light brown in the way that a rose is red, or that the sky is blue. They defined what it meant to be light brown.

Mummy almost never mentioned him, and on the rare occasions when he came up, she referred to him only as ‘the gametes donor’. Once I’d looked up this term in her New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (from the Greek , ‘husband’ – did this juvenile etymological adventuring spark my love of classics?),

I’ve always had the impression that you’re missing out, not having someone significant in your life. It’s good that you’ve started looking for … your other half. A partner in crime, as it were.’