Awhile back I read and reviewed Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, because there were a lot of things about that book that made me not want to read it, but then I loved it. Many people did NOT love it. If you are one of the ones who loved it, may I recommend the remarkably similar book Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder (Target link) (Amazon link), by Kerryn Mayne? (*Searches “Is ‘with’ capitalized in a title” for the thousandth time.*)
(image from Target.com)
Whimsical title! Collage-art cover, with a woman’s full name in a larger/different font than the rest of the title! Cover flap description that dials up the quirkiness while hinting that bad things happened to children! A main character with unthinkable suppressed childhood horror/trauma, who is therefore an unreliable narrator to herself and to us—but we start figuring it out a little before she does, making us feel smart! A main character who starts out hard-to-like, and has considerable difficulty navigating social situations, but gradually we warm to her and are glad to see her finding her way into a happier life!
It is not the exact same book, but it is close enough that I think you can accurately predict whether you’ll like one based on whether you liked the other. I liked both. I was more enchanted by the Eleanor Oliphant book, but it got an unfair advantage by being the first time I’d encountered the plot. I also think the Lenny Marks book spent more time flashing back to the childhood trauma, though I could be misremembering. If you were only going to read one of the two, I’d say Eleanor Oliphant; but if you liked Eleanor Oliphant and want more books like that, then I recommend Lenny Marks.
This is the exact kind of review I need. Adding this book to my lengthy library holds list!
I also liked Eleanor Oliphant better than Lenny Marks, though I don’t think I can explain why.
I DID like Elinor Oliphant! I would probably like this too, but I am really, really, really trying not to put anymore library books on hold until I read some Kindle books. I’ll add it to my Goodsreads TBR list so I don’t lose it forever though. Or I’ll just request it anyway because I have no principles or will power. Sigh.
I listened to the audiobook of Lenny Marks. I had to skip through some of the trauma parts – they were pretty rough. But she was a strong character.
Thank you for your always-lovely blog.