Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine, thank you very much. She may struggle with appropriate social skills, has a bit of an unusual appearance and is a loner (or, as she calls it, a "self-contained entity") but she's just fine on her own. Her life is scheduled according to a tight timetable and nothing is amiss. However, all of that changes when Eleanor develops a crush on a local musician. As she prepares herself for her inevitable meeting with him, where they will fall in love at first sight, she starts to change her appearance, purchases a new outfit and inadvertently becomes friends with Raymond, the office IT guy. As her friendship with Raymond grows, it's clear that Eleanor may not be completely fine after all. As she slowly unloosens from her tightly regimented life and opens up to friendship, some of the unpleasant details from her past start to bubble up.
I absolutely loved this book when I read it and when I started listened to the audiobook, I fell in love with it all over again. Eleanor is such a memorable character; she's funny (without meaning to be most of the time) and intelligent and her views on the world are pretty unique. The slow building of her friendship with Raymond is heartwarming and you see clearly how valuable one good friend can be. Raymond, to his credit, is very patient with Eleanor, accepting her for who she is and not flinching away in the more difficult moments with her. Because Raymond is able to help Eleanor face areas of her painful past that she has avoided for many years, Eleanor is able to really discovery herself and embrace life.
The reader of this audiobook is absolutely fantastic. She's a great actress so you get not only a very real sense of who Eleanor is, but you also get the other characters quite clearly. This was an audiobook where I would sit in the driveway and listen for a few extra minutes just because it was so good.
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