Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - 4.5* (round to 5*)

[Doughgirl5562]

"There are scars on my heart, just as thick, as disfiguring as those on my face. I know they're there. I hope some undamaged tissue remains, a patch through which love can come in and flow out. I hope."

I read this for book club, and would recommend it for any book club. It's not only a page turner, but also very insightful.

Eleanor Oliphant of Glasgow, Scotland leads a very structured and lonely life, and - as she tells her social worker - she is just FINE. Why does she have a social worker? Well, it has something to do with the scar running down the side of her face and the fact that she lived in various foster homes from the time she was ten. More than that you will have to find out by reading the book.

Eleanor's life was going along "just fine" until (1) she sees the man that she thinks she will spend the rest of her life with - a musician in a band, and (2) she and a co-worker assist an elderly man who fell. Those two events are the catalyst to many changes. I thought the writing was excellent and clever, and it ended well.

One last comment: I've visited Scotland three times now (although not Glasgow yet), and really enjoyed the elements and lines in this book that made it obvious - at least to me - that it was set in SCOTLAND. This was one of my favorite lines in the book, delivered when a friend came to visit Eleanor after she had been sick: "When I answered the door, he was holding a bottle of Irn-Bru and a bag of jelly babies."