Book Review: All The Lonely People by Mike Gayle

My Rating: 
4.5⭐

In January 1958, a young Jamaican by the name of Hubert Bird sails to Southampton in search of a bright future like many others of the Windrush Generation. He finds employment and has to endure blatant racism and discrimination both in the workplace and in society in general, but remains hopeful. Hubert meets his future wife Joyce, falls in love and marries her - an inter-racial marriage that is not accepted by Joyce’s family. A hardworking and honest man, loving husband and devoted father to two children, Hubert settles down in Bromley with his wife and family.

Our protagonist Hubert Bird, is presently in his 80s and lives alone in his home in Bromley, with his pet cat Puss as his only companion after having lost his wife of forty-seven years thirteen years ago. He has isolated himself from his friends and community for the last five years, including his closest friend Gus and looks forward to the weekly phone calls from his daughter Rose, a professor working in Australia. His daughter worries about his being alone and to appease her he concocts stories about fictitious friends and regales her with stories revolving around his busy social life. When his daughter plans a visit, he realizes that he will be caught in his deception and strives to rectify his situation and ventures out to reconnect with his old crowd but that does not happen.

"When you don’t see someone regularly you imagine them carrying on with their lives as they’d always done from one year to the next, but the truth was things changed. People grew old and got sick, they sold up and moved on; they weren’t frozen in time waiting for the day that you knocked on their door looking for them.”

When a young single mother, Ashleigh and her young daughter move into his neighborhood and attempt to befriend him, he initially tries to avoid them but in the face of Ashleigh’s upbeat and friendly nature, his defenses start to crumble and he begins to enjoy their company. Eventually, Ashleigh inspires and motivates him to join her efforts in seeking out other people like themselves who also feel isolated and lonely, creating a “campaign” against loneliness banding the community together in a great initiative.

“Moments later as he stood on the doorstep waving goodbye to his new neighbors, the embrace was all he could think about, and once he’d closed the door firmly behind him, he felt his legs buckling as tear after tear rolled down his cheeks. And in that moment, as he attempted to stem his tears, Hubert realized something he hadn’t quite understood before now: he was lonely, really lonely, and most likely had been for a very long time.”

Mike Gayle’s "All The Lonely People" is a wonderfully crafted story with an endearing cast of characters and a fluid narrative, revolving around themes of family, friendship, loneliness and community. The author touches upon sensitive issues such as racism, substance abuse, age-related dementia and elder care with compassion and restraint. The author’s strength lies in his characterizations and his sensitive portrayal of relationships. The chapters alternate between Hubert’s past (starting from 1957) and the present day. The novel is very well–structured and I enjoyed both the past and present tracks in the narrative. Though the story primarily revolves around Hubert Bird, the author also gives due importance to his other characters and explores how loneliness impacts both the elderly and the younger generation as well as immigrants and those battling illness and addiction and emphasizes the importance of community, kindness and inclusivity. Overall, the novel is well-paced but some parts of the story are a tad long-drawn and could have been shorter. The events that unfold in the course of the story alternate between heartbreakingly sad, funny, hopeful and heartwarming. This is an emotionally heavy read that will resonate with many and will ultimately leave you smiling through your tears. "All The Lonely People" is my first Mike Gayle novel and I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.

“You see, the key to helping other people out of them loneliness is nothing more difficult than good old-fashioned perseverance. It’s not always easy, me know that, but you’ve got to be willing to keep doors open, to carry on trying even if it doesn’t look like it’s working. You’ve got to refuse to give up on people, even if them given up on themselves.”