This is a belated coming of age book about a thirty year old woman who experienced severe childhood trauma that left her physically and mentally scarred. Her effort at a relationship in her 20s did not work out. And she decides that living alone and going to her accounts receivable job and not knowing how to engage with other people after years of okay foster care is not just good enough but better. Then, she uses tickets she won to attend a live music concert and it sets off a little spark of desire to experience life. She is highly judgmental of people who do not fall within her rigid concept of how one should dress and speak and write, even in emails, but that is that part that is both humorous and lets us understand what makes her tick. Once a week, she talks on the phone to her toxic mother, just to make sure she stays very messed up.
This was a best seller the year it came out for a reason. Eleanor is incredibly annoying in a whole variety of ways, yet we like her and root for her and Honeyman wrote her with love an humor. This is not a funny book, but it is at times humorous and always engaging. I have never read a character drawn so well, including her efforts to change on the outside and later, much later, on the inside. How does one build trust when there was nothing to suggest trust should exist at any time in your life? This is one story you will love if you can handle the sad stuff. Which is always sandwiched among new experiences. Excellent narration for audio book but this would be a good print book as well.
They Called me Bookworm 