SPOILERS!!!
This is one of the most enjoyable books I have read. I was unsure about the book at first, but the more I read, the more engaged I was with the characters.
Eleanor becomes more socially savvy as her friendship with Raymond grows. Her looks also change as she buys clothes for the foreseable future when she meets her musician, she starts using makeup, and Laura, Sammy's daughter, gives her an attractive cut. Good things come her way too when her boss offers her a promotion, which she eventually accepts. Then Sammy dies, and she goes to the funeral because she was fond of him. While he is to be incinerated, the family meet at a hotel for some refreshment, and we can tell that Eleanor is upset and goes to the bar for some vodka. It is Raymond who comes to her rescue when the bartender keeps ogling her.
Then Eleanor hears that her musician is to perform, so she finally buys tickets to go and see him. She is excited, and she thinks that this will be a day to remember.
Then the next section comes titled 'Bad Days'. We find that after the gig Eleanor is lying on the floor of her flat, drunk with vodka, and wanting to die. She realised that she had been deluding herself and the musician would never fall her, and she realised that she did not even like him. Then Raymond appears after getting her address from their boss and finds Eleanor in a terrible state. He helps her, cleaning after her and making her see that she needs to see a doctor.
Eleanor goes to her GP, who signs her off work and tells her to have counselling. From then on Eleanor goes to see a therapist, Maria Semple. At first, she refuses to talk about her childhood, but little by little she starts to open up. Raymond tells her that he has been searching the web, and he knows what happened to her and her mother, and Eleanor is not happy, but she can't remain angry with him. As she finally feels ready, she tells the therapist that she had a sister, Marianne, and her mother set fire to the flat, intending to kill them but for some reason she survived. Guilt has been with Eleanor since then because she survived and Marianne died. The therapist makes Eleanor see that she was only a child, and the blame was on her mother. Then Eleanor and Raymond meet to find out more about that day, and she reads that her mother, Sharon, drugged her daughter and set fire to the flat. Eleanor managed to leave the flat to raise the alarm and came back for her sister, but it was too late. Marianne deid as well as their mother. Now Eleanor admits to having had imaginary conversations with her mother for years, and now it is over.
Eleanor returns to work, where she is welcomed fondly. At the end of the book Eleanor has gone a long way. I have not mentioned that Raymond gave her a cat that she named Glen and that meant to have someone to look after and love. Now Eleanor has the friendship of Raymond, people from work, and at the end of the book it is an open issue whether Eleanor and Raymond may become more than friends.
I really love the book. It has humour, sadness and thought-provoking ideas.
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