Book: All The Lonely People by Mike Gayle
Read From: 24th July - 26th July 2021
Rating: 4/5 stars
Summary: In weekly phone calls to his daughter in Australia, widower Hubert Bird paints a picture of the perfect retirement, packed with fun, friendship and fulfilment. But Hubert Bird is lying. The truth is day after day drags by without him seeing a single soul. Until, that is, he receives some good news - good news that in one way turns out to be the worst news ever, news that will force him out again, into a world he has long since turned his back on. Now Hubert faces a seemingly impossible task: to make his real life resemble his fake life before the truth comes out.
This book was ADORABLE! I saw a lot of similarities to A Man Called Ove which is one of my favourite books of all time, so it's completely unsurprising that I really enjoyed this book as well and became completely enamoured with Hubert.
I really appreciated how Gayle went into so much depth with Hubert's character too. Of course he would have been so easy to love regardless, but this novel has a dual timeline where we follow Hubert's journey from Jamaica to England during the Windrush generation. As a result, we see Hubert's difficulties of trying to secure a job, the racism he experienced and the prejudice and discrimination he and his partner endured as a mixed-race couple. This book is not short of heart-break and there are so many upsetting parts of Hubert's story that are guaranteed to be a tear-jerker.
However, rest assured that there is plenty of joy and heart-warming moments too. Hubert and single-mum Ashleigh have the most unlikely friendship, but it is also the most wholesome one. There are also so many other characters Hubert meets along the way who you can't help but love too. After reading (and loving) Half a World Away, it became clear that Gayle's forte is writing such loveable and real characters and All The Lonely People definitely solidified my assumption. It's books like this that remind me why I love character-focused novels so much - even reading in general - because what is a book without characters you can fall in love with and become attached to?
I laughed, I cried, I smiled and I sobbed. This book is truly a roller-coaster of emotions and I have no idea why it took me so long to pick it up of my shelf. I'm so excited to read more from Gayle in future - both his new releases and his backlist. I would definitely recommend reading this book - especially if you are a fan of A Man Called Ove and/or Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.