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emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Mike Gayle has delighted me again with a sweet but sometimes painful story that had me gasping (more than once). Another pandemic novel, Gayle examines loneliness through 82-year-old Jamaican immigrant Hubert. He’s on a quest to prove to his daughter that he’s got plenty of friends and she shouldn’t worry about him from Australia. Alternating flashback chapters give Hubert’s present circumstances a deeper poignancy. As all my favorites do, this novel turns a group of trauma-inflicted misfits into a real community. A great examination of relationships and aging.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Dementia, Grief, Alcohol
Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Abortion
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A good background read on audiobook. There were a few surprises but the book mainly told the story of an ‘ordinary’ life and the life story of a young man who moves from Jamaica to London after the war, his challenges and how connection and community ebb and flow throughout his life.
What I enjoyed:
I enjoyed the narrator’s gravely voice and Jamaican lilt. A welsh accent was also passable. I also liked the descriptions of his Jamaican home which were such a contrast to the often grey, cold experiences of England.
The narrator added dimensions that would have been lost to me in print. I doubt I would have finished the book in print.
What I enjoyed:
I enjoyed the narrator’s gravely voice and Jamaican lilt. A welsh accent was also passable. I also liked the descriptions of his Jamaican home which were such a contrast to the often grey, cold experiences of England.
The narrator added dimensions that would have been lost to me in print. I doubt I would have finished the book in print.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Terminal illness, Grief