Book Blog: ELEANOR & PARK by Rainbow Rowell

Lately I've been experimenting with various forms of entertainment to constructively pass the time while exercising.   My recent choice was a book selected based on rave reader reactions from people who don't usually gush.  I didn't know what to expect and knew nothing about the story except that it was contemporary realistic fiction.

Or at least I thought it was.

ELEANOR & PARK by Rainbow Rowell is actually set in the 80s.  Although the main characters are teenagers, this novel seamlessly crosses over to an adult audience. Adult readers will strongly connect to every nuance of the age -- from the hairstyles to the gymsuits to the music. Especially to the music.

Even if you weren't a teenager in the 80s, you'll love this book.

And you'll especially love Eleanor and Park.

From the author's website:

“Bono met his wife in high school,” Park says.

“So did Jerry Lee Lewis,” Eleanor answers.

“I’m not kidding,” he says.

“You should be,” she says, “we’re 16.”

“What about Romeo and Juliet?”

“Shallow, confused, then dead.”

“I love you,” Park says.

“Wherefore art thou,” Eleanor answers.

“I’m not kidding,” he says.

“You should be.”

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.