All The Lonely People

This is another brilliantly written heart warming story by this wonderful author. It tackles prejudice, loneliness, friendship, death, substance misuse, love after loss, homelessness, losing a child amongst other very relevant and prevalent topics. I was blown away and I should have known I would be after reading The Man I Think I Know and Half a World Away and loving them both.

A definite 5🌟 read! I’d say for lovers of books such as The Lido and Three Things about Elsie.

Mike Gayle has done it again with this timely, poignant, uplifting book.

Hubert Bird is old and lonely. He barely leaves his London home, the one highlight of his week a call to his daughter Rose, an academic who lives the other side of the world. But he doesn't want Rose to worry about him, so he has made up a life, one with friends and activities, laughter and happiness. So when she announces she's coming to stay, Hubert realises he's going to have to make some changes before he breaks his beloved daughter's heart. But where to start? Luckily for Hugo an isolated young mother has moved next door and she is determined to put down some roots, including befriending her neighbours. Hubert doesn't know what to make of bubbly Welsh Ashleigh but he realises that if he is going to start making changes he needs to accept her offer of friendship and soon finds himself enjoying spending time with her and her daughter.
It doesn't take Ashleigh long to realise that there are plenty of people out there just as desperate for human contact as she and Hubert are and she starts a campaign to tackle loneliness - and to Hubert's horror he finds himself figurehead and spokesperson, making real friends along the way and starting to face up to the circumstances that left him so isolated.

Interwoven with the present day is Hubert's past, from his decision to move to London, what it was like being part of the Windrush generation, the racism he faced and the difficulties of falling in love with a white woman and raising a family amidst prejudice. We follow Hubert as he moves from young man to a middle aged father and into old age, until past and present collide as he grapples with a truth so painful he has been hiding from it for five long lonely years.

The current pandemic has brought loneliness into public consciousness and the injustices suffered by so many of the Windrush generation are never far from the headlines, meanwhile the UK is at last beginning to face up to the racism and unconscious - and conscious - biases embedded in the country. All of this makes All the Lonely People not only a good read, but painfully timely.
Heartbreaking, thought provoking and beautifully written All the Lonely People deserves to be the book everyone is talking about this summer.

Well, Mike Gayle has done it to me again! I’m mush after reading this book - I loved it! Hubert Bird comes to Britain from Jamaica in 1958 and makes a life for himself despite initial difficulties. He meets Joyce, they have a happy life and two children, Rose and David. By the time we meet Hubert in the book he is 84, he’s a curmudgeonly lonely old man waiting for his weekly phone call from Rose who lives in Australia. Then one day young mum Ashleigh knocks at his door with daughter Layla and asks him a favour. Ashleigh is new to the area, originally from Wales and can talk the hind leg off a donkey!! From this moment on Hubert’s life becomes very different and infinitely richer. The story is told in alternating timelines from Then - 1958 onwards and Now which works really well.

There is so much to like in this book. I love the way the author writes as he has a deft, light touch which I really admire and there’s vibrancy and humanity in the storytelling which draws you in effortlessly. I like the comparison between the ‘50’s and now and shows just how difficult settling into this country must have been for the Windrush Generation and what a culture shock that must have been. The characters in the book are fantastic- if Joyce hadn’t snapped Hubert up I might have been tempted myself!!! You can hear his beautiful Jamaican lilt so strongly it’s like he’s standing right next to you. Ashleigh is an amazing character too but the whole book is crammed with wonderful characters which is a Mike Gayle trademark. The growing friendship between Hubert and Ashleigh is a thing of beauty and they realise just how lonely they both are and they realise that London and so many other places are full of lonely people so they try to do something about it. It really makes you think and do something positive even if it’s just saying hello. This book elicits s whole range of emotions from laughter to both sad and happy tears, from shock and occasional anger but the message is clear and it’s a lovely one, that friendship is vital.

Overall, a wonderful and enthralling book which is to be published at a time when many people have been in Covid19 lockdown which makes this book extremely relevant.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton and Mike Gayle for the ARC.

A story even more relevant for current times.
Hubert Bird comes to London from Jamaica in 1958.He finds work and love with a white girl.They come up against much prejudice but battle on and settle down to have a family.
Years go by and Hubert finds himself living alone and lost touch with friends.A new neighbour comes calling with her daughter and circumstances lead to Hubert getting involved in starting up a lonely people group.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book,it had lots of thinking and talking points.I liked the characters and could visualise them in my mind.
Another great Mike Gayle book.

Oh boy! I knew from the blurb I was likely to enjoy this, what I wasn’t prepared for was that even just a few pages in that I would be so engaged with Hubert. Hubert is a lonely old man of 84. His daughter lives in Australia and on their regular phone calls he tells her of his life and his activities and his friends- except every word is his imagination. He rarely goes out and sees very little of the human race. He even has notes about his three friends so that story lines add up and make sense. His daughter is coming home in a few months and he doesn’t know quite how he is going to tell her that it's all made up. One day he gets a knock on the door and there instead of a parcel delivery for someone else, stands a young woman and her daughter who have just moved in close by. Alternate chapters take us back to 1958 and Huberts arrival from Jamaica and his meeting with the love of his life Joyce. Sometimes in amongst the many books I read comes along something special, something life affirming and one to make me stop and think, smile and cry and take stock of the world we are in. This is currently a very topical subject as Hubert and his family have suffered racism for almost as long as he can remember. The major topic is loneliness, something we can all do something about. When passing someone, instead of nodding hello, maybe pass the time of day albeit briefly. Even just a few kind words may mean the world to someone and change their day- we don’t know what they are going through. I really didn’t want this to end. Each year about 10% of the books I read (250+) earn a 5** rating for having that something extra. This one has earned this and more. A book I have taken to my heart. Loved it really doesn’t cover it.

(links as part of blog tour)