If you loved A Man Called Ove, then prepare to be delighted as Jamaican immigrant Hubert rediscovers the world he’d turned his back on this “warm, funny” novel (Good Housekeeping). In weekly phone calls to his daughter in Australia, widower Hubert Birdpaints a picture of the perfect retirement, packed with fun, friendship, and fulfillment. But it’s a lie. In reality, Hubert’s days are all the … In reality, Hubert’s days are all the same, dragging on without him seeing a single soul.
Until 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. The news that his daughter is coming for a visit.
Now Hubert faces a seemingly impossible task: to make his real life resemble his fake life before the truth comes out.
Along the way Hubert stumbles across a second chance at love, renews a cherished friendship, and finds himself roped into an audacious community scheme that seeks to end loneliness once and for all . . .
Life is certainly beginning to happen to Hubert Bird. But with the origin of his earlier isolation always lurking in the shadows, will he ever get to live the life he’s pretended to have for so long?more
This will be one of my favorite reads of 2021. You’ll laugh out loud and reach for the tissues. Highly recommend.
Hubert Bird lives a lonely and isolated life, has for years, but you couldn’t tell that from the sunny updates he provides his daughter Rose in their weekly phone calls. He lives in the London borough of Bromley and she’s a professor with a wonderful career in Melbourne, Australia. He even maintains a notebook to keep up with his lies about his busy life full of friends and activities. But now with Rose’s planned visit in six weeks, Hubert has to somehow create the life he’s sold to his daughter to make certain she doesn’t feel the need to uproot her life and return home to take care of him.
My goodness, how I loved this story! It’s told in two timelines, then & now, beginning with Hubert’s immigration from Jamaica to England in the late 1950s. We learn of the pivotal moments in his life, including his marriage to Joyce Pierce, a white woman who sacrifices her own family in loving him. He’s a widower in the now who reluctantly forms a friendship with a new neighbor, a young single mother named Ashleigh. Together they create an initiative to end loneliness in their borough that grows organically and so quickly that Hubert is suddenly faced with having the life he’d fabricated for his daughter.
The story is rich with layers and complex characters, especially so as it moves through the timelines to present day. I loved his relationship with Joyce and how they created a beautiful life despite rampant racism in the early years. There’s an amazing twist at the end that I never saw coming, throwing everything into a different perspective. It just made a great story even more outstanding. I listened to the book and the narrator is a gem! He gave life to Hubert, mastering that Jamaican lilt while juggling other British accents. His storytelling skills are excellent, making the words lift from the pages. This will rank as one of my top five favorites for the year, both story and narration. If you’re looking for something to fill your heart with hope and triumph, this is that story.
(Thanks to Libro.fm for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)
I’m grateful All The Lonely People by Mike Gayle was pressed into my ears by Libro.fm and the Currently Reading podcast.
This emotional story, told in two timelines, features Hubert Bird. Readers first meet him in present time where the 84-year-old widower leads an active life in England with a group of close friends. He recounts their adventures to his daughter Rose during weekly phone conversations. However, we quickly learn things aren’t as Hubert reports, and his efforts to reconcile this changes his life in unimaginable ways.
The historical timeline begins as Hubert is a young man in Jamaica, then follows his immigration to and early days in England, his courtship and marriage to Joyce, and the issues their relationship creates among prejudiced family members and neighbors. Readers also experience the joys and challenges of Joyce and Hubert raising their children and dealing with Joyce’s health conditions.
One of my favorite character types is the elderly individual who struggles to find meaning in their present circumstances. Hubert Bird joins Ove (A Man Called Ove), Eudora (The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett), Odile (The Paris Library), Mukesh (The Reading List), and Ellie (The Christmas Dress) on my list of favorites.
The novel’s exploration of loneliness seems especially timely as the world deals with distancing and isolation due to COVID which will certainly impact our future in countless ways.
This was excellent on audio with narration by Ben Onwukwe who infused authenticity and personality into Hubert through his dialog. Thank you to Hachette Audio for the advanced listening copy of this incredible story of found family.
4.5 Stars
This book felt much longer than its 384 pages but in one of those wonderful, depth-filled, life story ways. It’s mostly a family saga centered around Hubert and his life after he moved to England from Jamaica for the promise of available work. Also mixed into Hubert’s life story was his involvement with the lonely people campaign, spearheaded by his tenacious single-mom neighbor who essentially stormed into Hubert’s life, became a true friend, and helped him dig out of his self-isolated existence.
In a non-linear fashion, the story weaves back and forth between Hubert’s beginning years in England, while he finds work, love, and builds a life with his wife and family, to the present. All the while experiencing the effects of racism thrust upon those who were invited to live, work, and help the UK rebuild post WW2.
Going into a book like this, you generally know that emotional strings will be pulled. Sometimes, even what and how they’ll be pulled. Not with this one. The stylistic writing was impressive in this story. I often thought I was prepared for where it was going, fully immersed, and then caught completely off guard by the reality of its direction. There were definitely moments of shock and sadness in Hubert’s life, but it was balanced with lovely character growth and heartwarming friendships.
All the Lonely People was an all-around wonderful read with clever storytelling and some fantastic characters.
Powerful, poignant, and memorable!
All the Lonely People is a nostalgic, touching novel that takes us into the lives of three main characters; Hubert Bird, a kind-hearted, Jamaican widow whose loneliness is palpable and who spends the better part of his days in companionable silence with his beloved cat, Puss; Ashleigh, a friendly, determined, young mother living in a new place with no family or friends nearby to turn to; and Jan, an elderly woman with a heart of gold who not only spends her time having a little fun but helping anyone in need.
The prose is eloquent and reflective. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are unique, endearing, multi-layered, and warm. And the plot, alternating between “Now” and “Then,” is a beautiful tale of friendship, happiness, kindness, generosity, loss, grief, solace, forgiveness, honesty, humour, unconditional love, growing old, and the true meaning of family.
Overall, All the Lonely People is a moving, delightful, exceptional story by Gayle that will make you laugh, make you cry and is hands down one of my favourite reads of the year that, in my opinion, everyone should read at least once.
This was fantastic! I decided to read this book because I liked the sound of it and it was better than I could have hoped it would be. I was drawn into this story of Hubert Bird’s life right away and became more and more enthralled as I worked my way through the book. I am so glad that I took a chance on this book!
Hubert Bird is an older gentleman living alone and he rarely sees or talks to anyone except for his cat. Once a week, his daughter calls, and he makes up stories about his life that he believes she wants to hear. When she tells him that she plans to come for a visit and wants to meet all of his friends, he knows he needs to find some friends quickly. Meanwhile, his new neighbor and her little girl seem determined to work their way into his life. Before he knows it, he has a rather active life and is part of a group hoping to end loneliness for everyone.
I love the characters in this book. Hubert immigrated to England from Jamaica as a young man. The racism that he faced was eye-opening. When he meets Joyce and they fall in love, they both went through a lot because of the reaction to their interracial relationship. Hubert goes through a lot of really difficult things over the course of his life and there were times my heart broke from him. The twist took me completely by surprise which was a big point in this book’s favor.
Ben Onwukwe did an amazing job with this book. After listening to this book, I couldn’t imagine experiencing this book in any other way. I really felt like he brought Hubert to life. I loved the accents and the different voices that he used in narrating this story. I thought that he had a very pleasant voice and was able to bring out the emotion in the story.
I would highly recommend this book to others. I found this to be a wonderful story about the life of a man with an interesting story to tell. I definitely plan to read more of this author’s work in the future.
I received a copy of this audiobook from Hachette Audio via Libro.fm.