Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman has been one of the summer’s biggest surprise hits.

For a debut novel with an unassuming cover, it is very impressive that it has already been read by nearly 20,000 Goodreads members and has a 4.34/5 rating. It has also been nominated for several UK literary awards, which is doubly impressive since it’s not the standard kind of highbrow literary fiction that usually dominates this realm.

Why all the buzz? Well, my theory is that it appears readers of popular fiction are beginning to move on from the fruitless quest to find the next Gone Girl and have instead began focusing on optimistic tales of everyday people dealing with heartfelt problems. This new trend is being dubbed “Up-lit” (ie. books that showcase empathy, everyday heroism, human connection and love that is not necessarily romantic) and Eleanor Oliphant has been at the forefront. I thought it was a great read and if you have previously enjoyed books like Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman or The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, I think you will too.

It’s fun, funny and character-driven, but also a bit sad. Great for readers who like quirky characters that go on emotional journeys – that’s exactly what this is!

Set in Glasgow, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine follows a lonely and socially inept 30 year old woman with a ton of emotional baggage and likely some mental health issues to boot. These are things that Eleanor has refused to acknowledge – until now.

Eleanor works at a graphic design firm in the finance department and spends the rest of her time in her council flat, usually drinking vodka and eating frozen pizza. Her social life consists of a phone call with her nutcase “mummy” every week. Then one day she goes to a concert, after winning the tickets in a raffle, and decides a musician is the one – even though she never actually meets the man. In an effort to make her new crush/”destiny” become reality, she decides to give herself a bit of a makeover. Meanwhile, a new hire in the IT department of her company, Raymond, strikes up a friendship with Eleanor. All of these changes force Eleanor to confront the past and consider that maybe she isn’t as “completely fine” as she has been letting on.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is best described as “heavy” chick-lit. It’s fun, funny and character-driven, but also a bit sad. Great for readers who like quirky characters that go on emotional journeys – that’s exactly what this is!

You can reserve it in print, e-book, audiobook or large print formats from your branch of the County of Lennox & Addington Libraries or online here.