Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

This prize winning first novel tells the story of a smart but dull 30 year old officeworker who has poor social skills and a facial scar. Her lack of knowledge about social conventions (how to order a drink at a bar or what gift to take to a party) makes for an amusing story. However, unlike a number of other novels, Eleanor is not on the autism spectrum; she is the victim of trauma, neglect and poor parenting.

Eleanor prides herself on her extensive vocabulary and good manners. She is satisifed with her life, completing her job efficiently, never socialising and downing 2 or 3 bottles of vodka each weekend. A new IT support person, Raymond, begins to talk to Eleanor. Gradually a friendship develops and new doors begin to open.

The book includes themese of lonliness and friendship. It also highlights the difference between good manners and social skills. Knowing how to correctly address someone is different from being able to make small talk. Nor should good manners be mistaken for good morals.

I enjoyed the book. Many of the characters are believable salt of the Earth types who remind the reader most people are basically good. As Eleanor makes progress the author gradually reveals her past.

The Au Pair by Emma Rous

This tells the story of the well-to-do Summerbourne family. Twenty-five year old twins Seraphine and Danny have lost both parents. After finding a baby picture with only one baby in it, Seraphine starts to wonder if the gossip and rumours she's heard in the village over the years are actually true. This leads her to track down a former au pair, Laura, who lived at the Summerbourne Norfolk estate and looked after the twins elder brother Edwin around the time of their birth. The chapters alternate between Seraphine's story, set in the present day, and Laura's story set back in 1992.

There were times when I wondered if the author really needed 400 pages to tell a fairly straight forward story, but the second half of the book opened up more questions and I really enjoyed the last 100 pages. There were plot twists that didn't seem particularly credible, and some of the characters weren't well-developed, but overall the book was a good holiday read.