All the Lonely People

Hubert Bird lived alone in London. His only company was his cat, Puss, who had adopted Hubert some years earlier. He came to London from Jamaica in 1958 - later referred to as the Windrush Generation after one of the ships that transported new settlers looking for work from Jamaica to Britain in the mid 1950s. He did find work and was employed in many occupations, eventually becoming a plumber supervising the work of other plumbers. But life was not easy, especially at a time when the colour of his skin and his accent made him stand out from those born in England. Eventually he met Joyce but, when they married, Joyce's family cut them both out of their lives because of Hubert's race.

Joyce and Hubert had two children, a daughter Rose and a son, David. Rose worked at a university in Australia while David appeared to have given up on life, preferring to exist on alcohol and drugs. When Joyce died Hubert was left alone living in the family home. He rarely left the house except to shop but during his weekly phone calls with Rose he told her about his friends and activities - though they were just stories.

One day there was a knock on the door and Hubert met a young neighbour, Ashleigh, who needed help. Although not really wanting to be involved Hubert and Ashleigh gradually formed a friendship. Then Rose told him that she was planning to come to visit him and looked forward to meeting the friends he always talked about. This threw Hubert into a panic. He needed to find some age appropriate friends, particularly friends named Dottie, Dennis and Harvey.

In All the Lonely People, Mike Gayle examines concepts of being alone and being lonely. Other themes in the book include racism, mixed marriage, drug addiction, friendship and the importance of communities. The story is told in two time frames, from the time that Hubert left Jamaica till the present and Now. Therefore we have the story of present day Hubert and his challenges as well as the gradual revelation of the background to Hubert's life story - why he acts the way he does. 

The importance of not cutting yourself off from family and friends when challenges occur is an important theme of the book. At one stage Hubert forces himself to look for friends and in doing so realises that there are many people who are alone and / or lonely. An attempt is made to rectify this situation in the local community.

Mike Gayle has written a compassionate, human and often amusing novel about a topic that affects many people, particularly today in our busy world.