Needless to say she is beyond broken hearted. In their absence she discovers something else ... a need to accrue beautiful little possessions. Mugs, vases, ashtrays, and her porcelain birds among many other carefully selected items. It started with just a few, then a few more, and now she is barely able to navigate her own home. Not really a problem as she never has company. Her possessions won't deceive her like the people she once loved. It's safer with them.

Amy’s neighbour, Rachel, cares though, and blames her for an ongoing problem with mice. When a new family moves in next door, Rachel thinks she has found an ally in forcing Amy to change, but with a well paced and thoughtful plot, it doesn’t happen in the way that you may expect. I loved the unexpected way in which some of the elements of the story developed, and though I had an inkling of what the main twist would be, I wasn’t disappointed to be proved right. Eleanor was inspired to write her debut novel by the objects her toddler collects and treasures – twigs, empty water bottles and wilting daisies. A truly remarkable book that had me hooked from the start and racing to the end. Beautifully written. -- Jenni Keer, author of THE HOPES AND DREAMS OF LUCY BAKER Thus, this story becomes an uplifting mystery centered around missing persons, the passage of time, and the crushing anxiety and grief of not knowing what might have happened.

Customer reviews

The story starts slowly and I was afraid we'd have to meet every single item in Amy's hoard but that didn't happen. Instead we meet Charles aka Charlie, 8 1/2 years old (almost 9!), the oldest son of Amy's new next door neighbor, Richard. Charles loves Amy from almost the moment he meets her and he's good for Amy, such a smart, insightful little boy, with answers for almost everything. He makes no secret of the fact that he favors Amy over his dad's dreadful, evil girlfriend. I loved this charming, endearing novel...it will melt even the hardest of hearts...If ever there was a time for a book like EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL to lift us above the every day doom and gloom, it is now. -- Joanna Nell, author of THE SINGLE LADIES OF JACARANDA RETIREMENT VILLAGE

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. The LoveReading LitFest invited Eleanor Ray to the festival to talk about this wonderful debut Everything is Beautiful. Amy can't believe it, she won't believe it, she doesn't want to believe it......until she does. What other logical explanation is there? Eleven years have passed since the events that sent Amy into the proverbial tailspin and Ray does a good job at explaining how her coping mechanisms – putting together a collection of treasures or keepsakes – became an obsession and resulted in the Amy we meet.Amy Ashton’s life fell apart eleven years earlier. At that time she started a collection of keepsakes of the guy she loved. Though they might be things others would throw away, to Amy they were precious. But her collection has grown and turned into an obsession that has her living in a cluttered house. When new neighbours move in next door., Amy is concerned for her pots and keepsakes in her yard. Though she attempts to keep her distance, the neighbour’s eldest son Charles is determined to make friends. Amy finds herself drawn into the little family of Charles, younger brother Daniel and their father Richard. Richard's live in lover Nina is not so keen on the attention being shown to Amy by Richard and his boys. When she makes a chance discovery, Amy end up with lots of questions needing answers. Will she be able to find the answers and find the courage to move on to a more fulfilling life? Bob Mortimer wins 2023 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction with The Satsuma Complex For Amy, it would have to be someone with a little vulnerability to them but with underlying strength – a brunette Emily Blunt or Carey Mulligan would be fantastic. And I’ve got a soft spot for a bearded Tom Hiddleston as Richard, the lovely man next door. Where do you write? – do you have an aesthetic workspace, a cramped kitchen table, a cosy bed base? Now her house is overflowing with the objects she loves - soon there'll be no room for Amy at all. But when a family move in next door, a chance discovery unearths a mystery long since buried and Amy's carefully curated life begins to unravel.” Amy is left in limbo, and instead of looking for a therapist to help her deal with her feelings of abandonment and grief, Amy buys beautiful things that give her momentary pleasure. (No judgement here: many of us have been there, done that.) But Amy has gone to an extreme, and the neighbours and the neighbourhood council want Amy to reduce the massive clutter in her home - contractors can't even get in to repair the chimney, for goodness sake!

I loved every bit of it. I think the term in book reviewer lingo is “utterly captivated”– and I was, as it was not only so beautifully written but the story was brilliant, too’ FLISS CHESTER I have no recollection how this ended up on my TBR and I didn’t bother reading the blurb once my library hold came up so imagine my delight when it turned out this was about one of my most strange addictions . . . . The idea came to me while I was pregnant with my second child. As my belly grew bigger and I found it more difficult to lift my toddler son, he started collecting objects in the park: twigs, empty bottles and wilting daisies.

About Eleanor Ray

Now her house is overflowing with the objects she loves - soon there'll be no room for Amy at all. But when a family move in next door, a chance discovery unearths a mystery long buried, and Amy's carefully curated life begins to unravel. If she can find the courage to face her past, might the future she thought she'd lost still be hers for the taking? But this isn’t what we see as readers in the beginning of the story. And that is what is so perplexing to us as readers. I mentioned in a recent book review ( Other People’s Houses by Kelli Hawkins) that I could sympathise with both the lead character who’s suffered trauma and those around them, and it’s the same here. I can understand her neighbour and others wanting to help Amy make changes to her life, but I could also understand the level of comfort and control (her hoarding and isolation) affords her and wondered if she doesn’t want to change, why should she?

In the midst of this upheaval Amy’s still wondering about the events of 11 years earlier and disappearance of the love of her life. I also really enjoyed the resolution of the mystery and the ending. Overall this book was good. I just didn't love all of the stuff from the past. Readers of Carpe Librum will know that I love reading - and watching documentaries - about hoarders. There's something uniquely fascinating to me about the physical manifestation of their grief, personal trauma or mental illness and the appeal of the before/after transformation process and subsequent recovery - albeit rarely achieved - is irresistible. EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL is a truly beautiful book, and wonderfully written. The title is perfect too. Amy is an enchanting character, and I found her story deeply moving. Ray's portrayal of her hoarding in response to grief and trauma was convincing and original, both tender and funny. The novel manages to accommodate so many qualities that might be presumed to be in tension, but in Ray's hands are brought together powerfully, so that it is charming and thrilling, romantic and gripping. The mystery of what happened to Tim and Chantel is compelling and immersive. -- Claire Kendal, author of THE BOOK OF YOUEleanor Ray has perfectly captured how it feels to not quite fit in' M W Craven, author of The Puppet Show Meet Amy Ashton. Amy’s life has been dormant and stagnant ever since the disappearance of her boyfriend Tim and best friend Chantel eleven years ago. Eleven. Long. Years. Ago. The mystery of what happened to Tim and Chantel is an integral part of the plot and, is what drives Amy's obsession with " things". And by "things", I mean just that, tea cups; newspapers; wine bottles; vases; disposable lighters and ashtrays (even though Amy doesn't smoke); garden pots; oh, and bird figurines just to name a few. She has filled her house so full of things she can no longer see the floor in most rooms, she sleeps on the sofa because her bed is full of 'things'. She has left herself thin slivers of space so that she is still able to move throughout the house, albeit perilously. So much goes on, that it is critical as readers, that we wait for the amazing conclusion to tie it all together. I relished it from start to finish. A beautiful book. Thought-provoking. Evocative. A treat to read’