If you loved Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman then you will love The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr by Frances Maynard.
I remember looking at this book in a bookshop and the bookshop owner said she was reading both at the same time and said remarked on how similar they were.
Elvira Carr is 27 and is neuro-atypical. I still don't know what that term means but according to the Internet, it means someone whose neurological structure or function does not fit in with what society says is normal.
Elvira lives with her mother but at the start of the book her mother has a stroke and has to move into a resthome. Elvira is left alone. Her father died a few years earlier. She manages her life by reading up about her condition online and coming up with seven rules to help her cope and adjust. The last thing she wants to happen is for someone to put her in a special facility. She has a neighbour who looks out for her and she makes friends with some of the people she works with at a zoo once a week.
She regularly visits her mother in the resthome and helps out with the resthome's pet therapy using guinea pigs. Any questions Elvira has about life she notes down in a notebook - a special notebook she thought her father had brought her back from Japan. Questions start to arise about her father. Everything starts to unravel for Elvira and what she believed about her father.
This book has some sad and some tough moments but also some beautiful moments. I just love Elvira's character. This is the best book I've read so far in 2018. Okay to be fair I've only read a few!
Footnote: Pictured with the book are some biscuits or cookies as the Dutch would call them. They are a special delicacy called Stroopwafels. We were given several packets of these during our visit to the Netherlands last year. These Stroopwafels were gifted in a beautiful delft blue tin. The reason I've included them in this image is that one of Elvira's favourite topics to talk about is biscuits and their packaging.
I am reading this book now and it's amazing! A really insightful author who is well-acquainted with autism through her work. She's really nailed it in the character of Elvira! I love this book!
ReplyDeleteLorna have you read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman? That is a great book. Probably liked it just a little more than this one!
DeleteYes I finally did read it after waiting a long time to borrow a copy from the library! It was very good as well. Britt-Marie Was Here by Frederik Backman is another book in this vein but different again .
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