Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

It's not just the unusual title that sets this book aside.  JoJo Moyes said the book was 'funny, touching and unpredictable'.

And I guess that is right – but for me it was also powerful and provoked really deep thought about my own background.

This is the first book by Gail Honeyman – I just hope she keeps writing.  The voice of Eleanor just shone through so authentically and consistently. Which is a major achievement given just what Eleanor is coping with.

Eleanor is a person coping with an unimaginably tragic childhood with a resilience that she does not recognise in herself.  At the beginning I wondered whether this was another of those books about people on the autism spectrum – not to belittle some of those books which are great – but as the truth is slowly revealed the book becomes more and more engrossing.

I highly recommend this to anyone – but if your childhood was less than a perfect one – you need to read this.