“Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine” by Gail Honeyman: Five clues in first third of novel suggest that Eleanor Oliphant has multiple personality

Having chosen this novel because it has been on The New York Times fiction bestseller list for the last thirty weeks (longer than any other novel now listed), I am almost one-third into it, and have found the following quotations to be of interest here:

“When I awoke, it was just after 3 a.m., and the pen and notebook were lying on the floor. Slowly, I recalled getting sidetracked, starting to daydream as the brandy slipped down. The backs of my hands were tattooed with black ink, his name written there over and over, inscribed inside love hearts, so that barely an inch of skin remained unsullied. A mouthful of brandy remained in the bottle. I downed it and went to bed” (1, p. 23).

Readers of the above should be asking themselves whether Eleanor Oliphant’s “tattooing” was done by her: 1. while awake, 2. during sleep, 3. while awake, but during an alcoholic blackout, or 4. while awake, by an alternate personality, during a multiple personality memory gap.

She had not reported a history of alcoholic blackouts, and had described her substantial weekend drinking as only sufficient to keep her painlessly intoxicated but not seriously drunk. If this episode had no special meaning about the character, it would not have been included and highlighted.

“It was only when the air went dead that I noticed I’d been crying” (1, p. 32). Do most people only belatedly realize when they have been crying? In multiple personality, one personality may be crying while another personality is not crying, so the latter may not be immediately aware of it.

“[Polly, the plant she had had for many years] was a birthday present, but I can’t remember who gave her to me, which is strange. I was not, after all, a girl who was overwhelmed with gifts” (1, p. 50). Another gap in her memory. (Memory gaps are a cardinal symptom of multiple personality.)

When “I was in need of soothing” (1, p. 71), she reached for her trusty old copy of Jane Eyre. What is that novel’s relevance? Search “Jane Eyre” to see ten past posts.

“I surprised myself. And whose fault is that, then? A voice, whispering in my ear, cold and sharp. Angry. Mummy. I closed my eyes, trying to be rid of her” (1, p. 94). This may be one more novel that uses italics when quoting the voice of an alternate personality. Search “italics.”

1. Gail Honeyman. Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. New York, Pamela Dorman/Viking Penguin, 2017.