Book Review: Mr. Loverman by Bernadine Evaristo

 

Synopsis

Barrington Jedidiah Walker.

Barry to his friends.

Trouble to his wife.

Seventy-four years old, Antiguan born and bred, flamboyant Hackney personality Barry is known for his dapper taste and fondness for retro suits.

He is a husband, father and grandfather.

And for the past sixty years, he has been in a relationship with his childhood friend and soulmate, Morris.

Wife Carmel knows Barry has been cheating on her, but little does she know what is really going on. When their marriage goes into meltdown, Barrington has big choices to make.

Mr Loverman is a groundbreaking exploration of Britain's older Caribbean community, which explodes cultural myths and fallacies, and shows how deep and far-reaching the consequences of prejudice and fear can be. It is also a warm-hearted, funny and life-affirming story about a character as mischievous, cheeky and downright lovable as any you'll ever meet.

My Thoughts

After reading Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo I was excited to finally pick this one up. 

Although this one was a decent read I did not love it as I thought I would have. In my opinion this book speaks to the danger of keeping secrets which I personally do not care for. It speaks to a long marriage between two people Barrington and Carmel that should not have lasted as long as it did. 

What I liked about the book was the message that life should not be based on a lie and in spite of the consequences that may occur individuals need to be true to who they are.

Barry was a complicated character. I think that Ms. Evaristo wrote this character well mainly because his attitude towards his marriage to Carmel, and his relationship with Morris throughout the years is how I would picture Caribbean people dealing with this situation. 

I always enjoy reading about the Caribbean diaspora that live abroad , in this case it was Antiguans that migrated to the UK. Aspects of the culture was well represented in the book and that was appreciated. 

I became angry with Barrington's family in this story because I think deep down they all knew the truth, (I don't know somehow I got that nagging feeling) but is like they didn't not want to face the truth. I felt so much emotion for Carmel and even Morris, is like everyone even Barry's children was just going through the motions waiting for the ball to drop.

The ending though!!! What a surprise!!! In all this is a well written story full of themes and drama and comedy too. While I didn't LOVE it. It was a decent read.