This novel is not without it’s narrative flaws but all were swept away in my enjoyment of Eleanor and her story. I laughed, I cringed and I shed a tear or two as I cheered Eleanor on. This is a story of contrasts – of the horror of a difficult childhood what it takes one woman to create of security in adulthood, of loneliness and emerging friendship.
Plot in a Nutshell
Eleanor lives a solitary, exceedingly regimented life. She goes to the same job she’s had for nearly ten years, eats the same food for dinner every day and drinks a bottle of vodka at a weekend. She doesn’t have friends or social skills and she is more than fine with that. Except things are changing, there is a man she has her eye on and she gets swept up in the rescue of an older man who collapses on the street and the two events have her question her life choices and start to make some changes.
Thoughts
Eleanor is the star of the show here. She is a wonderfully drawn and well fleshed out character who was quietly cativating. Whilst she has been alone in one way or another for an exceedingly long time and has developed a world view and a vocabulary from books and the newspaper rather than social interaction. She has no friends and no social skills (she takes a packet of processed cheese as a birthday present to a buffet party) and her language is stilted and old fashioned. Cleverly Honeyman has, despite this, offset the intrinsic sadness with a healthy dose of humour. Eleanor is pretty funny once you take the time to see her and get to know her as a great cast of secondary characters do so.
Onto the other characters. Outside of Eleanor’s workplace Honeyman has created an excellent cast of supporting characters. Sammy and his family as well as Ray and his mum are all good, kind welcoming people whose gentle acceptance of Eleanor’s many quirks question her choices and support her through difficult times.
I was initially uncomfortable with Eleanor’s attempts to give herself a makeover with new clothes, a manicure, waxing, a hair cut and a trip to the make up counter and was fearful the book was going to turn cliched with made over woman meeting man of her dreams who helps ‘fix’ her. Again, I was pleasantly surprised. Each of these interactions is drawn to give a better insight into Eleanor and contains the carefully balanced sadness and humour that flows through the novel. Eleanor comes away from it all with a wider wardrobe, good hair cut etc but is still fundamentally Eleanor.
These days loneliness is the new cancer – a shameful, embarrassing thing, so horrifying that you dare not mention it; other people don’t want to hear the word spoken aloud for fear that they too might be afflicted, or that it might tempt fate into visiting a similar horror upon them.”
There are flaws in the narrative – I find it difficult someone as well read as Eleanor would not know what a tablet or a laptop were. Equally the fact that she had lived in foster homes and also attended university and yet not having a better understanding of how people typically speak and engage. I was able to not get hung up on any of these points as Eleanor and her story was so appealing.
One to remember and I would not be averse to a sequel.
A Final Note
Whilst set in a different place with a much older protagonist, there is something Elenaor-ish about An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine.