My first choice for Scotland was actually The young team by Graeme Armstrong. I was attracted to the audiobook version, because it was read by the author himself. Sadly though, I quickly had to give up, because the heavy Scottish dialect in that one was simply not comprehensible to me. I persevered for about half an hour, and I did not understand a single word! I’m sorry, Graeme. I’m hoping for a Danish translation at some point.
A little disillusioned I looked over my list of books from Scotland. They’re a bit bleak and sad most of them, aren’t they? And I really wasn’t in the mood for bleak and sad.
So I had to remind myself of my first rule: “enjoyment above all” and reach for something I knew I would enjoy. Because I read it before.
I do not light up a room when I walk into it
Eleanor Oliphant’s life is, by her own assessment, “completely fine.” She has her routines: the same workday lunches, phone calls with her mum every Wednesday, nights with pizza and vodka, and weekends spent alone in her apartment. Her life is efficient, predictable – and excruciatingly lonely.
“If someone asks you how you are, you are meant to say FINE. You are not meant to say that you cried yourself to sleep last night because you hadn’t spoken to another person for two consecutive days. FINE is what you say.”
Eleanor is one of the most hilariously blunt characters I’ve ever encountered. She is bitingly sharp and socially clueless. Eleanor is the kind of person who will bring half a packet of cheese slices as a birthday gift, or will render someone speechless by some utterly absurd statement, only to conclude that they are a “spectacularly unsophisticated conversationalist”.
Through the whole book, she speaks in a way that reminds me of Jane Austen (it later becomes clear that this is no coincidence) and I cannot tell you how much I love it. Picking quotes from this book is almost impossible, because there is gold on every single page.
Eleanor’s “completely fine” existence begins to unravel when two things happen:
First she becomes dangerously obsessed with a local musician. She convinces herself that he is destined to rescue her from her lonely existence, and her fantasies about him sends her on a quest to transform herself before their “inevitable” first meeting.
Secondly she unexpectedly (and involuntarily) befriends Raymond, the scuffy IT guy at her office, when together, they come to the aid of an elderly man who collapses in the street.
“No thank you,” I said. “I don’t want to accept a drink from you, because then I would be obliged to purchase one for you in return, and I’m afraid I’m simply not interested in spending two drinks’ worth of time with you.”
This pulls Eleanor into the messy, unpredictable world of human connection, where Raymond, with his genuine kindness and patience, becomes the steady force she never knew she needed.
However, as Eleanor ventures into the real world, she is also forced to confront the horrors and heart wrenching darkness of her past — a past that will send shivers down your spine and make you understand the barriers she’s built around herself.
for writing Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine
I read this novel some years ago and loved every single page then. It is very seldom that I read a book for the second time. There are just too many books out there to do that, you know? But Eleanor Oliphant is one of those books that deserve it!
I don’t think I placed it in Scotland, when I first read it. Honestly this book could be set anywhere. But this time I went with the audiobook version, narrated by Cathleen McCarron, and it is marvelous. The wonderful Scottish accents of the various characters did make this an even more enjoyable experience.
Human mating rituals are unbelievably tedious to observe. At least in the animal kingdom you are occasionally treated to a flash of bright feathers or a display of spectacular violence.
As a side note there is a September 2026 date announced for Gail Honeyman’s second novel, and you can be very sure that I will be standing in line for that one!
Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is a story about isolation, trauma, and human connection. It is tremendously funny. It is a book that will break your heart in a thousand pieces and put them back together, and after reading it for the second time it is still one of those books I will continue to push on everyone any chance I get.
Go read it.
And if you already did, go read another one of my suggestions from Scotland.
I bought this novel when it first came out and I’ve probably read it three or four times in the intervening years. I’m so glad you enjoyed as much as I have.