Evelina | AvalinahsBooks's Reviews > All the Lonely People

How I read this: Free audiobook copy received through Libro.fm

This is a beautiful story of loneliness and friendship, and I also couldn't quite believe how much happened in this book, because it felt decently long - but not too long, and yet, so many things happened. It's a very full, engrossing story.

The story is told through switching perspectives - one in the past when the main character is young, and one now, when he's quite old. There is a lot of character growth, getting through old pain and letting go, making the right decisions and moving on. Ultimately, we learn the main character's whole life story.

However, many parts of it made me sad as I was reading it, because as a young man who just moved from Jamaica to London in the 50s, Hubert has to face A LOT of open racism. It's very, very sad and you are sort of bracing yourself for the fallout of his and his wife's relationship (she's white) and all the other nasty stuff that you suspect will happen to them, and you just don't want them to have to go through it, because they're such lovely people - and even aside from that, NO ONE should have to go through it at all. It's good that the story highlights it. But it will make you sad, so expect it if you're planning to pick this book up. It's a great read, but I had to keep putting it down for a while again and again, because I just felt so sad after reading just a couple of chapters.

And even apart from this, Hubert kind of has a lot of sad things happen to him, just overall. My heart broke for him. There was a lot of inspiring and great stuff in the end too, but this book also makes you feel how fragile and overwhelming life can be. It's a very honest, but also bittersweet story.

I thank the publisher and libro.fm for giving me a free copy of the audiobook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

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