Author Guide · Contemporary Fiction
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Gail Honeyman got the idea for her first novel from a newspaper article about a young woman who lived alone in a big city and, unless she made an effort, would leave work on a Friday night and not speak to anyone until Monday morning. Honeyman, born in Stirling in 1972, was working as an administrator at the University of Glasgow at the time. She wrote the opening chapters on a Faber Academy course, and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine came out in May 2017. It had been sold in 27 translation deals before UK publication, won the Costa First Novel Award and became the British Book Awards’ Book of the Year. Her second novel has been announced but not yet published. This guide covers her one book, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 1 key books · 2017–2017 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Gail Honeyman has published one book: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (2017), winner of the Costa First Novel Award. Start there, because it is the only one so far. A second novel, set in a different period and place, is listed by HarperCollins for 2028; read on for what is known about it and the film.
Where to Start with Gail Honeyman
If you want the book everyone means
→ Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (2017) — her debut and, so far, her only novel.
If you want a novel about loneliness
→ Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (2017) — a Glasgow office worker who talks to almost no one.
If you want a book-club pick
→ Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (2017) — a Reese’s Book Club pick.
Gail Honeyman’s Book
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Eleanor Oliphant, nearly 30, has worked as a finance clerk at a graphic design company in Glasgow since college, spends her weekends with frozen pizza and vodka, and has a weekly phone call with her mother. After she and Raymond, from the office IT department, help an elderly man, Sammy, who has collapsed in the street, her routine starts to give way, and so does what she has kept buried about her childhood and the scar on her face. Published by HarperCollins in the UK and Pamela Dorman Books in the US, it became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller and the British Book Awards’ Book of the Year in 2018; it was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award.
In What Order to Read Gail Honeyman
There is no order to worry about yet: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (2017) is her only published book, and it is a standalone novel, not the first of a series.
Honeyman said in January 2018 that she was working on a new novel “set in a different period and location”, so it is not expected to be a sequel. HarperCollins has listed it as an untitled book several times, most recently for February 2028; earlier dates in 2024 and 2025 passed without publication.
A reading path
1. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (2017)
2. Her second novel, when it is published (listed for 2028)
The years · 1972–2028
Quick facts about Gail Honeyman
- Known for
- Gail Honeyman is known for writing one of the best-selling British debut novels of the 2010s, a funny and dark book about loneliness written in her spare time while she worked as a university administrator.
- 1972
- Born in Stirling, Scotland
- 2028
- Second novel listed by HarperCollins for February
- Born
- 1972, Stirling, Scotland
- Education
- French language and literature, University of Glasgow; postgraduate study in French poetry at Oxford
- Worked
- Civil servant in economic development, then administrator at the University of Glasgow
- Debut
- Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, HarperCollins, May 2017
- Prizes
- Costa First Novel Award (2017); British Book Award, Book of the Year (2018)
- Film
- Optioned by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine in 2017
The red mark is 2017: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, her debut and only novel so far.
How Gail Honeyman Writes
The novel is told entirely in Eleanor’s first person, and the voice is the book. She speaks in a stiff, formal, oddly precise English that Honeyman has said partly reflects how isolated she is, and much of the comedy comes from the gap between how Eleanor sees a haircut, an office party or a pub gig and how everyone else does. Honeyman called that voice “a distinctive component of her character”.
The humour sits on top of something much darker. The past is held back and released in small pieces: the weekly calls with “Mummy”, the scar, the vodka at weekends. Honeyman told BookPage that she wanted to avoid self-pity and to “leave space in the narrative for the reader to draw their own conclusions about her life”.
The structure is simple: one woman, one city, ordinary places such as an office, a hospital ward, a care home and a pub. What changes Eleanor is not romance (her crush on the musician Johnnie Lomond comes to nothing) but small acts of friendship, with Raymond and with Sammy and his family. Readers who like that mix of comedy and grief often go on to Fredrik Backman and Rachel Joyce.
Frequently asked questions about Gail Honeyman’s books
How many books has Gail Honeyman written?
One. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (2017) is her only published book. A second novel has been announced but not published.
What are Gail Honeyman’s books in order?
So far there is only Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (2017). Her second, untitled novel is listed by HarperCollins for February 2028.
Where should I start with Gail Honeyman?
With Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine — it is her only book, and it stands alone.
What is Gail Honeyman’s most famous book?
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (2017), which won the Costa First Novel Award, was the British Book Awards’ Book of the Year in 2018 and became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller.
Is there a sequel to Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine?
No. Honeyman has said her next novel is set in a different period and location, so it is a new story rather than a sequel.
When is Gail Honeyman’s second novel coming out?
No firm date has held. HarperCollins first listed an untitled second book for September 2024, then February 2025, and currently lists it for 10 February 2028. No title has been announced.
Is Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine being made into a film?
Reese Witherspoon’s company Hello Sunshine optioned it in May 2017, the week the US edition came out. The film has been in development since; no release date has been announced.
What prizes did Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine win?
The Costa First Novel Award (2017), the British Book Award for Book of the Year and Début Book of the Year (2018) and the Authors’ Club First Novel Award (2018), among others. It was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award.
Is Eleanor Oliphant based on Gail Honeyman?
No. Honeyman has said Eleanor “isn’t me, or anyone I know”, though she has felt loneliness, as everybody does. The idea came from a newspaper article about young people who live alone and can go a whole weekend without speaking to anyone.
Where is Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine set?
In Glasgow, where Honeyman lived and worked while writing it.
Footnotes
- Gail Honeyman — Wikipedia
- Gail Honeyman — official website
- Gail Honeyman interview — BookPage, August 2017
- Eleanor Oliphant wins Costa First Novel Award — Madeleine Milburn Agency, 2018
- Reese Witherspoon options Eleanor Oliphant — Madeleine Milburn Agency, 2017
- Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine summary — LitCharts
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“I wanted to show that Eleanor is a survivor, that she’s damaged but not broken by what has happened to her.”
— Gail Honeyman, interview with BookPage (August 2017)
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