Member Reviews
Helen T, Reviewer
Absolutely loved this book! I loved Eleanor, she was rude, obnoxious and completely adorable! I laughed and cried at her story. Couldn't recommend this book enough!
Roman C, Reviewer
'I was getting to quite like my own voice, my own thoughts. I wanted more of them. They made me feel good, calm even. They made me feel like me'
Such a lovely book that made me want to reach into its pages and give Eleanor a hug, then take her drinking and dancing! Honeyman has created a character who has dealt with trauma by retreating into herself but now, at the age of 30, she's increasingly ready to change her life. An inauspicious meeting with the new IT guy at work heralds in a new chapter, though it takes a false start and a set-back before Eleanor really starts to emerge as herself.
There are a few signs of the debut novelist here: <spoiler> that Eleanor, who's worked in an office for 8 years doesn't know the difference between a laptop and a tablet, but knows her way around Twitter and Instagram? That she doesn't know anything about fashion, make-up or styling but knows about a bikini wax?</spoiler> but emotionally this feels spot-on.
One of the clever things that Honeyman pulls off is making us see the world through Eleanor's judgmental eyes at the start, then revealing things to be not quite the way she's perceived them to be <spoiler> such as her work colleagues in the office who aren't as cruel as we first think</spoiler>.
Most of all, though, this is a book which centres on the importance of kindness, on acceptance, on friendship, on the small everyday things that give warmth to our world. So a book which made me laugh and cry a bit, and which made me want to hug everyone I know!
Rachel N, Book Trade Professional
This book was not what I expected at all. Eleanor is unlike any other character I've ever read. This book is funny, charming and heart-breaking at the same time. I don't normally read 'women's fiction' but this is the kind of book that proves that that category has infinite possibility and scope for brilliance and originality. A wondrous book that I will recommend to everyone I know!
