Eleanor Rigby

by Douglas Coupland (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $6.68

  Following the hugely acclaimed bestseller Hey Nostradamus! comes a major new novel from Douglas Coupland: the wonderfully warm, funny, life-affirming story of Liz Dunn, a woman who has spent her whole life alone and lonely - until now... This is a major work of commercial literary fiction from an author who just gets better and better.

  'My name is Liz Dunn. The Liz Dunns of this world take classes in croissant baking, and would rather chew on soccer balls than deny their children muesli. They own one sex toy, plus one cowboy fantasy that accompanies its use... Look at me: I am a traitor to my name: I'm not cheerful; I'm drab. I'm crabby and friendless. And lonely.'

  Liz Dunn is 42 years old, and lonely. Her house is like 'a spinster's cell block', and she may or may not snore - there's never been anybody to tell her. Then one day in 1997, with the comet Hale Bopp burning bright in the blue-black sky, Liz receives an urgent phone call asking her to visit a young man in hospital. All at once, the loneliness that has come to define her is ripped away by this funny, smart, handsome young stranger, Jeremy. Her son.

  Eleanor Rigby is a tale of loneliness and hope that introduces Douglas Coupland's finest character yet. Illuminated by a wonderfully gentle, searching wisdom, it sees Coupland ascend to a new level of peace and grace in his ever-more-extraordinary career.

• Used

  Paperback
  2004

  $3.92

  Meet Liz Dunn - a good woman who has become very good at being lonely. Then, after 25 years apart, her amazing 25-year-old son returns into her life. And, at 40, suddenly, she is no longer alone, and must decide what matters more: peace, certainty or love?

  Once upon a time Liz Dunn was the loneliest girl in the world. One starry night, far from home, she told a stranger she was tired of being lonely. So, he tried to put an end to all that.

  Twenty-five years later, into her life walks, for the very first time, her son Jeremy. And everything changes. Liz has in the interim learned to live with loneliness, and become rather expert at it, as well as being sparky, competent and sarcastic when necessary. Now, with Jeremy in her life, she has to abandon her certainties as her world expands...

  This is a novel irradiated by hope and illuminated by trust, that also fizzes with whirls in Vienna, romance in Rome, mayhem in Frankfurt and visions in Vancouver. It is blessed with the commanding presence of an unforgettable heroine in Liz Dunn, with whom Douglas Coupland ascends to a new level of peace and grace in his ever-more-amazing career as an artist of rare capabilities.