Eleanor and Park

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

All those reviews raving about this book? They'e all right. This book is amazing.

Rainbow Rowell has managed here to take us inside a pocket of America that we all know exists, but we all left. Either we grew up and moved away, or times simply changed. Set in the 1990's, it is the story of Eleanor - a beautiful person trapped between a self-absorbed father and a mother who married a monster just so she wouldn't be alone. She is thrust into a terrible situation, as many teenagers are, at the mercy of a stepfather who hates her and siblings who need for her to defend them. It is the definition of an impossible situation.

And then there's Park, with his Korean mom, dad who looks like Magnum P.I., and brother - all forming a relatively happy family. They like each other. They have reasonable expectations.

The relationship that forms between Eleanor and Park is sweet and endearing and slow. But not slow in a "when is this going to pick up" sense. It is sensitive to their personalities. It is a sweetness that grows, timid at first and then becoming braver.

This book on audio is narrated by Rebecca Lowman and Sunil Malhotra. The voice that Lowman gives Eleanor is nothing short of amazing. It defines her in a way that is so in tune with Eleanor's description and behaviors that Eleanor absolutely comes alive, right off the page. Malhotra does Park equally well. Listening to this story was an absolute pleasure that was difficult to put down.

The plot was basically a coming-of-age romance. But the ending was surprisingly realistic. I was afraid it would be tragic; instead, it is hopeful.

Do yourself a favour and don't just read this book, buy it and put it on your shelf to read again and again. It is wonderful.

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