Even the circus freak side of my face-my damaged half-was better than the alternative, which would have meant death by fire. I didn’t burn to ashes. I emerged from the flames like a little phoenix. I ran my fingers over the scar tissue, caressing the contours. I didn’t burn, Mummy, I thought. I walked through fire and I lived.
There are scars on my heart, just as thick, as disfiguring as those on my face. I know they’re there. I hope some undamaged tissue remains, a patch through which love can come in and flow out. I hope.
Eleanor has her life figured out. At least, she thinks she does. She works in an office, eats pasta with pesto and salad (except for Fridays where she splurges on margherita pizza, Chianti and vodka), and plans her life meticulously. She is supremely baffled by the general public’s lack of courtesy, knowledge and societal expectations. At a concert one evening, she happens to see who she is sure to be her future husband on the stage. This chance encounter sets Eleanor off on a course of “self-improvement” which leads her to befriend Raymond, co-worker from the IT department, and Sammy, an elderly gentleman they assisted one evening on the street. Eleanor doesn’t like to discuss her past, but as her life unfolds, she finds the past sneaking up on her in unexpected ways, and truths she would rather ignore become adamantly undeniable. She comes to realize that somethings cannot be done alone, that help comes from unexpected places, and that it is OK to let people in your life.
Read this book. We aren’t sure how else to put it, except it must be read to be appreciated. Seeing the world through Eleanor’s eyes is an amazing experience. You will laugh out loud at some of her more zany escapades, like weighing her breasts on a food scale and determining they are the cause of her back pain, or her first experience with a bikini wax . . .
“Kayla”, I said, unable to believe the situation I now found myself in, “the man in whom I am interested is a normal adult man. He will enjoy sexual relations with a normal adult woman. Are you trying to imply that he’s some sort of pedophile. How dare you!”
While Eleanor prides herself on remaining matter-of-fact in all situations, her reactions and viewpoints are unknowingly (to her) witty and right on the mark, in some instances. As we follow her through her quest for self improvement, we begin to see a mystery to her past, one she refuses to acknowledge. Memories pop up, unbidden in her mind of past events and people that she has chosen to ignore. Will we ever find out what truly happened to Eleanor in her childhood? Where, exactly, is her mother calling from? Rigid, yet still empathetic, you will find yourself wanting to know more about Eleanor, and hoping she gets her happy ending.
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