Eleanor Rigby (novel)
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Eleanor Rigby is a 2004 novel by Douglas Coupland, about a plain, fat and lonely 42-year-old woman. The novel is written as a first-person narrative by the main character, Liz Dunn.
The novel centres on the changes to Liz's life when someone from her past unexpectedly re-enters her life. It is written in a light, often comic, tone, but touches on many issues, including loneliness, family, religious visions and multiple sclerosis.
[edit] Plot
Liz Dunn is a 42 year old single woman who has never had a partner and has no friends. She dwells on her loneliness.
Her life changes in 1997 when the Hale-Bopp comet appears in the sky, and she meets the child that she gave up for adoption when she was 16. Her son, Jeremy, is outgoing, funny, troubled and suffers from MS. He has passed through a dozen foster families, and is now 20 years old.
The novel recounts their time together up until Jeremy's death, and then enters the present time, 6 years later, as Liz travels to Austria at the request of a detective investigating the strange behaviour of Jeremy's father.
The narrative includes a murdered transvestite, a school trip to Rome, bed salesmanship, an international terrorism alert, and a meteorite. The title comes from The Beatles song Eleanor Rigby, which Liz uses as her email address.
[edit] External links
- Book review from The Guardian
- Book review from The New York Times
