What do you think?
Rate this book
Mr Loverman
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.
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.
307 pages, Paperback
First published August 29, 2013
About the author
Bernardine Evaristo
62 books4,821 followersBernardine Evaristo is the Anglo-Nigerian award-winning author of several books of fiction and verse fiction that explore aspects of the African diaspora: past, present, real, imagined. Her novel Girl, Woman, Other won the Booker Prize in 2019. Her writing also spans short fiction, reviews, essays, drama and writing for BBC radio. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University, London, and Vice Chair of the Royal Society of Literature. She was made an MBE in 2009. As a literary activist for inclusion Bernardine has founded a number of successful initiatives, including Spread the Word writer development agency (1995-ongoing); the Complete Works mentoring scheme for poets of colour (2007-2017) and the Brunel International African Poetry Prize (2012-ongoing).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,568 reviews
January 10, 2021
Why do we stay in unhappy marriages?
Love?
Fear?
Financial concerns?
Children in common?
Attachments to creature comforts?
Shared histories?
Hard habit to break?
Low self-esteem?
Guilt?
Religion?
Cultural condemnation?
Paralysis analysis?
For Barry and Carmel Walker it's a little bit of “all of the above.”
Oh. . . and Barry's gay and his wife doesn't know it, and she's spent 50 years loving him and trying to get him to love her back.
This is a heart-breaking story, or, it would have been completely heart-breaking if it hadn't also been hilariously funny in parts.
You see. . . Barry's a self-centered son-of-a-bitch who likes his routines, his wealth, his custom-made suits and his sex life with men. . . on the side. He hasn't spent too much time thinking about his wife, back at home, withering like a houseplant that's been kept in the shadows, never watered or fed.
I wanted to throttle Barry, rip up his immaculate suits, and smack him upside the head.
But, since the story is told mostly from Barry's perspective, I got inside his mind, and I understood him a little. Laughed at his jokes, too.
Don't get me wrong; for me, Barry remained a selfish bastard to the very last page. I hold him 100% responsible for what he did to his wife, Carmel, but Bernardine Evaristo is far too clever of a writer to make this story one-dimensional.
Nope. Carmel and Barry's unhappy marriage is the result of what's so ridiculously wrong with our world.
We keep thinking we are judge and jury and WE decide which consenting adults get to be with each other and which ones don't. Which adults are living in sin and which ones aren't. The restrictions we have placed on each other have resulted in a misery that is eating us whole.
Ms. Evaristo shows us that Barry, in Antigua, in the late 1950s had no “choice” to be gay. He couldn't marry his true love, Morris (though he cheats on him, too), buy a house with him, and still be a respected business owner within the community. He did not, however, need to marry a beautiful young woman who was so in love with him (oh, Barry, you fucker).
In the words of Mr. James Baldwin, Esq., The way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people's pain.
What Ms. Evaristo does here is so very clever: she juxtaposes a religiously devout wife, Carmel, with a gay, atheist husband, Barry, to show that. . .
each of us should be on our own paths, allowed to do what we want to do, as long as we aren't victimizing others.
Carmel shows us the best aspect of practicing religion. Her Christianity is what keeps her sane, restores her, offers her salvation. She doesn't preach it; she lives it.
Barry shows us the best aspect of practicing “live and let live.” He does wrong by Carmel, but, if he hadn't made this major error, his life would have been an example of what you can accomplish if you live by your own moral code and intuition and do right by others.
Both Carmel and Barry are victims here, and they are both good people, too.
There is so much to discuss here. I could honestly go on and on. I was so grateful this was a buddy read for me, and I can not recommend this book enough to book clubs everywhere.
Only a slightly bloated center and a too tidy ending kept this novel from being a five star read for me. Ms. Evaristo just landed, hard, on my radar, and this won't be the last story we share together.
. . . my heart sinks because I goin' into the lion's den.
This is the story of we lives.
Love?
Fear?
Financial concerns?
Children in common?
Attachments to creature comforts?
Shared histories?
Hard habit to break?
Low self-esteem?
Guilt?
Religion?
Cultural condemnation?
Paralysis analysis?
For Barry and Carmel Walker it's a little bit of “all of the above.”
Oh. . . and Barry's gay and his wife doesn't know it, and she's spent 50 years loving him and trying to get him to love her back.
This is a heart-breaking story, or, it would have been completely heart-breaking if it hadn't also been hilariously funny in parts.
You see. . . Barry's a self-centered son-of-a-bitch who likes his routines, his wealth, his custom-made suits and his sex life with men. . . on the side. He hasn't spent too much time thinking about his wife, back at home, withering like a houseplant that's been kept in the shadows, never watered or fed.
I wanted to throttle Barry, rip up his immaculate suits, and smack him upside the head.
But, since the story is told mostly from Barry's perspective, I got inside his mind, and I understood him a little. Laughed at his jokes, too.
Don't get me wrong; for me, Barry remained a selfish bastard to the very last page. I hold him 100% responsible for what he did to his wife, Carmel, but Bernardine Evaristo is far too clever of a writer to make this story one-dimensional.
Nope. Carmel and Barry's unhappy marriage is the result of what's so ridiculously wrong with our world.
We keep thinking we are judge and jury and WE decide which consenting adults get to be with each other and which ones don't. Which adults are living in sin and which ones aren't. The restrictions we have placed on each other have resulted in a misery that is eating us whole.
Ms. Evaristo shows us that Barry, in Antigua, in the late 1950s had no “choice” to be gay. He couldn't marry his true love, Morris (though he cheats on him, too), buy a house with him, and still be a respected business owner within the community. He did not, however, need to marry a beautiful young woman who was so in love with him (oh, Barry, you fucker).
In the words of Mr. James Baldwin, Esq., The way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people's pain.
What Ms. Evaristo does here is so very clever: she juxtaposes a religiously devout wife, Carmel, with a gay, atheist husband, Barry, to show that. . .
each of us should be on our own paths, allowed to do what we want to do, as long as we aren't victimizing others.
Carmel shows us the best aspect of practicing religion. Her Christianity is what keeps her sane, restores her, offers her salvation. She doesn't preach it; she lives it.
Barry shows us the best aspect of practicing “live and let live.” He does wrong by Carmel, but, if he hadn't made this major error, his life would have been an example of what you can accomplish if you live by your own moral code and intuition and do right by others.
Both Carmel and Barry are victims here, and they are both good people, too.
There is so much to discuss here. I could honestly go on and on. I was so grateful this was a buddy read for me, and I can not recommend this book enough to book clubs everywhere.
Only a slightly bloated center and a too tidy ending kept this novel from being a five star read for me. Ms. Evaristo just landed, hard, on my radar, and this won't be the last story we share together.
. . . my heart sinks because I goin' into the lion's den.
This is the story of we lives.
December 18, 2019
I am ashamed to say that I was completely unaware of Evaristo before her deserved Booker winner Girl, Woman, Other was longlisted. That book was strong enough to persuade me that I need to investigate her earlier work, and this was the first one I could find. In some ways the two books are similar - in both cases the focus is on unexplored areas of black British experience, but the big difference is that this time there is one main character, and he is male.
Barrington (Barry) Walker is a brilliant creation, by turns loveable and infuriating. As an Antiguan immigrant of the 1950s, he represents the Windrush generation, but he is not by any means a conventional hero. We learn very early in the book that although he has been married for 50 years and has two adult daughters, his real first love and soulmate is a man, Morris, and that their affair has been going on for even longer, since they grew up together on the small island. The book explores what happens after Morris challenges him to be honest with his wife and family and ask for a divorce, and is full of humour and unexpected perspectives.
Most of the chapters focus on Barry - some in the present and some in the past - these are written in normal sentences and have chapter titles starting "The Art...". The remainder, whose titles all start "Song of" focus on his wife Carmel(ita), starting with one on her wedding, these, like Girl, Woman, Other are written in a more poetic half-prose half-poem style with no sentence breaks.
Other chapters explore Barry's relationships with Morris (who was divorced 20 years earlier after his wife caught him in flagrante with Barry), with his two very different daughters Donna and Maxine, and with his teenage grandson Danny. What they do and don't know about each other drives much of the plot and the comedy. Evaristo manages to give the book a happy ending without contrivance or excessive sentimentality, and the book is a pleasure to read. Highly recommended.
Barrington (Barry) Walker is a brilliant creation, by turns loveable and infuriating. As an Antiguan immigrant of the 1950s, he represents the Windrush generation, but he is not by any means a conventional hero. We learn very early in the book that although he has been married for 50 years and has two adult daughters, his real first love and soulmate is a man, Morris, and that their affair has been going on for even longer, since they grew up together on the small island. The book explores what happens after Morris challenges him to be honest with his wife and family and ask for a divorce, and is full of humour and unexpected perspectives.
Most of the chapters focus on Barry - some in the present and some in the past - these are written in normal sentences and have chapter titles starting "The Art...". The remainder, whose titles all start "Song of" focus on his wife Carmel(ita), starting with one on her wedding, these, like Girl, Woman, Other are written in a more poetic half-prose half-poem style with no sentence breaks.
Other chapters explore Barry's relationships with Morris (who was divorced 20 years earlier after his wife caught him in flagrante with Barry), with his two very different daughters Donna and Maxine, and with his teenage grandson Danny. What they do and don't know about each other drives much of the plot and the comedy. Evaristo manages to give the book a happy ending without contrivance or excessive sentimentality, and the book is a pleasure to read. Highly recommended.
August 12, 2015
His name is Morris. He is my Morris and he always be my Morris. He's a good-hearted man, a special man, a sexy man, a history-loving man, a loyal man, a man who appreciates a good joke, a man of many moods, a drinking man, and a man with whom I can be myself completely. Yes, I was in the throes of a Malibu-and-Coke-soaked madness, a madness that could lead to the demise of my life as I'd hitherto known it. But I was on the verge. - Bernardine Evaristo, Mr. Loverman
I love this book’s cover; it reminds me of “Les Sapeurs” (http://www.npr.org/sections/picturesh...), the fashionistas from the Congo and it was one of the main reasons I picked up this book. And when I learned that the story is about an elderly man who is in the closet, it got even more interesting. This is perhaps my favourite fiction read of the year.
The story is about a 74 year old Antiguan immigrant, Barrington "Barry" Walker, who decides to leave his wife for his lover of over 50 years, Morris. Barry is an interesting character; a polymath and a heavy drinker, with some old-fashioned views but also plenty of wisdom. It is so easy to see him as a bad guy, cheating on his wife and basically driving her crazy in the process due to his emotional distance, not being honest about his relationship with Morris. I think about how different the world is now to what it was then, particularly with gay rights and acceptance, and it's also easy to see Barry as a victim of his time and his (very conservative) Antiguan culture. Barry decides to take the plunge and come to terms with his sexuality (he initially calls himself a “barrysexual” ).
I appreciated the rich storytelling, the simple truths, and the humour in this book. I also liked the look at the history and the struggle of black immigrants from the Commonwealth in the UK; my parents were two such people :
"This country has over fifty million citizens, whereas we didn't even have fifty thousand in the whole of Antigua and Barbuda. Folk could get lost here, be anonymous, lead they own quiet lives. In this city you can live on the same street as your neighbours for eighty years and not even say a good morning unless there's a war on and you forced to share a bomb shelter. Back home everybody kept their eye on everything and everyone."
"I am not a man given to sourness, but I left those banks with my mouth filled with the vile of bitter gourd. I ain't no political animal neither, but, pray tell, had not our labour drip-fed plantation profits to this country for hundreds of years before manumissions? Has not thousands of our young men fought in two world wars for this land? Were not we immigrants paying our taxes and making our ways as good citizens of this country?"
Also interesting were the dynamics between parents and children raised in different cultures. Having been raised in two very different cultures myself I could definitely relate. Evaristo has some funny examples, one of my favourites was how Barry chose to describe sushi:
"She rips open the plastic cover with her black talents and pops supposedly edible objects into her mouth. I lean over and examine the contents of her "lunch": four raw slivers of salmon on top of a thumb-sized blob of rice, a few lettuce leaves, about twenty bean-things with tails that looked like human embryos, strands of grated carrot, birdseed, a few pickled slices of finger, and some slimy black leafy substance that looks like it should-a remained in the sea."
I also liked the thoughts on how it is to raise a child as a minority in the west, how stressful it is for a parent to raise a minority child with self-esteem given that the mainstream society does little to help in that regard:
"I always made Maxine feel her opinions was important. I never slaughtered my daughter in an argument. I knew the rest if the world might do that to her, but not me, not her father. This is when it hits me.
The world did do it to her.
It said, You, my dear, are not the star of our show."
Surprisingly for me, I was actually able to feel a little empathy for the British who might have been overwhelmed with the sudden import of "foreignness" into their land:
"We had chosen to emigrate, so we expected foreignness, whereas they hadn't chosen to leave their home but all of a sudden it was full of foreigners. With the wisdom of hindsight, I now see they had lost their bearings."
The use of language was wonderful throughout. There was definitely a postcolonialist acceptance of diverse language usage. Excellent book which I'd recommend to anyone.
I love this book’s cover; it reminds me of “Les Sapeurs” (http://www.npr.org/sections/picturesh...), the fashionistas from the Congo and it was one of the main reasons I picked up this book. And when I learned that the story is about an elderly man who is in the closet, it got even more interesting. This is perhaps my favourite fiction read of the year.
The story is about a 74 year old Antiguan immigrant, Barrington "Barry" Walker, who decides to leave his wife for his lover of over 50 years, Morris. Barry is an interesting character; a polymath and a heavy drinker, with some old-fashioned views but also plenty of wisdom. It is so easy to see him as a bad guy, cheating on his wife and basically driving her crazy in the process due to his emotional distance, not being honest about his relationship with Morris. I think about how different the world is now to what it was then, particularly with gay rights and acceptance, and it's also easy to see Barry as a victim of his time and his (very conservative) Antiguan culture. Barry decides to take the plunge and come to terms with his sexuality (he initially calls himself a “barrysexual” ).
I appreciated the rich storytelling, the simple truths, and the humour in this book. I also liked the look at the history and the struggle of black immigrants from the Commonwealth in the UK; my parents were two such people :
"This country has over fifty million citizens, whereas we didn't even have fifty thousand in the whole of Antigua and Barbuda. Folk could get lost here, be anonymous, lead they own quiet lives. In this city you can live on the same street as your neighbours for eighty years and not even say a good morning unless there's a war on and you forced to share a bomb shelter. Back home everybody kept their eye on everything and everyone."
"I am not a man given to sourness, but I left those banks with my mouth filled with the vile of bitter gourd. I ain't no political animal neither, but, pray tell, had not our labour drip-fed plantation profits to this country for hundreds of years before manumissions? Has not thousands of our young men fought in two world wars for this land? Were not we immigrants paying our taxes and making our ways as good citizens of this country?"
Also interesting were the dynamics between parents and children raised in different cultures. Having been raised in two very different cultures myself I could definitely relate. Evaristo has some funny examples, one of my favourites was how Barry chose to describe sushi:
"She rips open the plastic cover with her black talents and pops supposedly edible objects into her mouth. I lean over and examine the contents of her "lunch": four raw slivers of salmon on top of a thumb-sized blob of rice, a few lettuce leaves, about twenty bean-things with tails that looked like human embryos, strands of grated carrot, birdseed, a few pickled slices of finger, and some slimy black leafy substance that looks like it should-a remained in the sea."
I also liked the thoughts on how it is to raise a child as a minority in the west, how stressful it is for a parent to raise a minority child with self-esteem given that the mainstream society does little to help in that regard:
"I always made Maxine feel her opinions was important. I never slaughtered my daughter in an argument. I knew the rest if the world might do that to her, but not me, not her father. This is when it hits me.
The world did do it to her.
It said, You, my dear, are not the star of our show."
Surprisingly for me, I was actually able to feel a little empathy for the British who might have been overwhelmed with the sudden import of "foreignness" into their land:
"We had chosen to emigrate, so we expected foreignness, whereas they hadn't chosen to leave their home but all of a sudden it was full of foreigners. With the wisdom of hindsight, I now see they had lost their bearings."
The use of language was wonderful throughout. There was definitely a postcolonialist acceptance of diverse language usage. Excellent book which I'd recommend to anyone.
June 12, 2022
Be true to yourself?
None of us are all the time. Kindness and good manners sometimes preclude it, but there are many who don’t dare be themselves, whether for fear of prison, prejudice, or eternal damnation.
“Truth is, both of us was desperate to be anything other than what we was.”
“Never, not once, have I felt able even to link arms with the man I love.”
Even if those fears lessen, it can be hard to break free; there may still be “the great abyss of social alienation” to consider.
Image: Touching hands (Source)
Meet Barry: a smartly-dressed gay Londoner who became an adult when homosexuality was still illegal. He lost a parent in his mid teens and married a church-going woman who fervently believed in the sanctity of lifelong marriage. He wanted his children to have a better and more stable childhood than he did. Perhaps he thought family life could cure his gayness. An erudite, cultured man, proud of his superior knowledge and intellect because it was hard-won and uncertificated. He was determined his children and grandchildren would have the education he did not. He liked to tease and provoke debate but didn’t suffer fools gladly, if at all. He made extra money by buying dilapidated properties in run-down areas, doing them up, and renting rooms. He could be charming, infuriating, opinionated, and pompous, often simultaneously. Loved by one of his children; shunned by the other.
Barry, my late father.
Also Barry Walker, the narrator of this novel.
One white, one black, but so many similarities.
“Biographies are just glorified gossip.”
Barry’s chatty, waspish, intellectual, analytical, humorous narration is occasionally interspersed with wife Carmel’s more angst-ridden inner monologue. But Barry has centre stage, as befits a dapper dresser who likes to pontificate, so the reader’s sympathies are primarily with him.
It’s mostly set in 2010, when Barry is 74 and has to make a choice, but there’s plenty of backstory of the main characters. He and Carmel emigrated to London after their wedding in Antigua in 1960. Donna was born later that year, and Maxine ten years after that. Antigua and multicultural London are vividly drawn, with Stoke Newington and Hackney evolving through Hippification, Rastafication, and Pinkification.
Morris, Barry’s secret lover since their teens, moved to London shortly before Barry and Carmel (not a spoiler; it’s in the book’s blurb).
Image: Hackney Carnival, 2019 (Source)
Painful truth and the limits of forgiveness
Barry quotes James Baldwin:
“The way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people's pain.”
He isn’t contemptuous of Carmel’s pain, nor that of his children, Morris, and himself, but nor does he do anything to mitigate it. Once you start living a lie, how do you stop?
“Larry showed me how to sweet-talk the girls, which I went along with, hoping it would cure me.”
There is no easy route to happiness for all parties when one spouse is living a necessary(?) lie and the other knows things aren’t right, but not why, and wouldn’t countenance divorce anyway.
Each person has a different angle: some want to live in ignorance, some know but don’t want to say, and some want everything out in the open.
“I am too used to being in a prison of my own making: judge, jailer and jackass cellmate.”
When is too soon, and when too late?
Having grown up in such a situation, I know there is no answer that suits everyone.
“Divorce: such a spiteful-sounding word - but such an appealing concept. Marriage: such a softly seductive word - but such a spiteful reality.”
In some ways, Barry is obviously a terrible husband, but he’s a good father, especially in Maxine’s early years, and he (says he) fears his daughters having a wife-beating step-father if he leaves. But Barry has two lives, albeit constrained, and a degree of choice, while Carmel wastes decades of her life. Can, and should, she forgive Barry? And how does that sit with her attitude to her father, who beat and cheated on her mother?
Other themes
This is primarily the story of an aging and closeted gay Afro-Caribbean couple. However, it touches on many other issues, sometimes from the narrators’ musings, and other times from debates between characters; the former works better.
There’s postnatal depression, sibling dynamics, political activism of various kinds, a tender and amusing sex scene, and plenty of examples of Christian hypocrisy. The most innocuous is a supposed Bible study group where they actually read Barbara Cartland romances, but there are many other examples.
“You never once talked to Reuben about your marriage, so you wasn’t disloyal in that way.”
Image: “Three Wicked Men” by Denzil Forrester, showing the London reggae and dub nightclub scene of the early 1980s - not Barry and Morris’ scene (Source)
Flaws
I loved Barry’s narrative voice, and Carmel’s snippets worked too, with my attitude to her fluctuating as the story progressed. However, many of the other characters, including Morris, were less convincing and seemed to lean towards clichés and caricatures.
Plot-wise, rather too much was crammed in the last few pages: it felt rushed, forced, and unnecessarily tidy. Also, Barry’s generosity (often in secret, for years) seemed more extravagant than would have been possible (or maybe my father was less successful at property-flipping).
Nevertheless, Barry himself carried this effortlessly to 4* for me.
Quotes
• “Waiting for the dawn to rise and for her wrath to descend.”
• “Now her heart is so cold you can snap off a frozen shard and cut a diamond with it.”
• “My amplitudinous, tree-adorned garden that stretches back over seventy flower-bedecked feet.”
• “I am enthroned at the head of the table on my carved antique chair.”
• “I injected a little bit of Hampstead Bohemia into my girl’s Hackney Caribbean childhood.”
• “Donna’s coming-of-rage period.” [adolescence]
• “He must-a watched me cut a distinguished, broad-shouldered swathe through the lumpenproletariat.”
• “Our men don’t know how to stay with our women. Our women don’t know how to raise men who do.”
• “I turn towards him and drape him with myself.”
• “It is our first public display of physical affection in sixty years.” [briefly squeezing hands]
We need Evaristo and her ilk
As with Girl, Woman, Other, this took me into the heart and spirit of a community and culture I have almost no experience of: the good, the bad, the comedic. Most importantly and cleverly, Evaristo makes it distinct, while also demonstrating all that we have in common. This is how to build empathy and understanding between different groups, whether the axes are of colour, gender, sexuality, religion, class, or political alignment.
My experience of Evaristo’s works
After reading Evaristo’s stunning Booker-winning Girl, Woman, Other (see my review HERE), I was keen to read more of her work. I avoided this one because it was only eighteen months after my father’s sudden death, and I knew there were parallels, so I read the hugely disappointing Blonde Roots (see my review HERE). I’m glad that didn’t put me off Evaristo, and that I eventually came to know and love the Barry of this book. As with my own father, I don’t agree with everything he says and does, but he’s real, and I really enjoyed his company.
None of us are all the time. Kindness and good manners sometimes preclude it, but there are many who don’t dare be themselves, whether for fear of prison, prejudice, or eternal damnation.
“Truth is, both of us was desperate to be anything other than what we was.”
“Never, not once, have I felt able even to link arms with the man I love.”
Even if those fears lessen, it can be hard to break free; there may still be “the great abyss of social alienation” to consider.
Image: Touching hands (Source)
Meet Barry: a smartly-dressed gay Londoner who became an adult when homosexuality was still illegal. He lost a parent in his mid teens and married a church-going woman who fervently believed in the sanctity of lifelong marriage. He wanted his children to have a better and more stable childhood than he did. Perhaps he thought family life could cure his gayness. An erudite, cultured man, proud of his superior knowledge and intellect because it was hard-won and uncertificated. He was determined his children and grandchildren would have the education he did not. He liked to tease and provoke debate but didn’t suffer fools gladly, if at all. He made extra money by buying dilapidated properties in run-down areas, doing them up, and renting rooms. He could be charming, infuriating, opinionated, and pompous, often simultaneously. Loved by one of his children; shunned by the other.
Barry, my late father.
Also Barry Walker, the narrator of this novel.
One white, one black, but so many similarities.
“Biographies are just glorified gossip.”
Barry’s chatty, waspish, intellectual, analytical, humorous narration is occasionally interspersed with wife Carmel’s more angst-ridden inner monologue. But Barry has centre stage, as befits a dapper dresser who likes to pontificate, so the reader’s sympathies are primarily with him.
It’s mostly set in 2010, when Barry is 74 and has to make a choice, but there’s plenty of backstory of the main characters. He and Carmel emigrated to London after their wedding in Antigua in 1960. Donna was born later that year, and Maxine ten years after that. Antigua and multicultural London are vividly drawn, with Stoke Newington and Hackney evolving through Hippification, Rastafication, and Pinkification.
Morris, Barry’s secret lover since their teens, moved to London shortly before Barry and Carmel (not a spoiler; it’s in the book’s blurb).
Image: Hackney Carnival, 2019 (Source)
Painful truth and the limits of forgiveness
Barry quotes James Baldwin:
“The way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people's pain.”
He isn’t contemptuous of Carmel’s pain, nor that of his children, Morris, and himself, but nor does he do anything to mitigate it. Once you start living a lie, how do you stop?
“Larry showed me how to sweet-talk the girls, which I went along with, hoping it would cure me.”
There is no easy route to happiness for all parties when one spouse is living a necessary(?) lie and the other knows things aren’t right, but not why, and wouldn’t countenance divorce anyway.
Each person has a different angle: some want to live in ignorance, some know but don’t want to say, and some want everything out in the open.
“I am too used to being in a prison of my own making: judge, jailer and jackass cellmate.”
When is too soon, and when too late?
Having grown up in such a situation, I know there is no answer that suits everyone.
“Divorce: such a spiteful-sounding word - but such an appealing concept. Marriage: such a softly seductive word - but such a spiteful reality.”
In some ways, Barry is obviously a terrible husband, but he’s a good father, especially in Maxine’s early years, and he (says he) fears his daughters having a wife-beating step-father if he leaves. But Barry has two lives, albeit constrained, and a degree of choice, while Carmel wastes decades of her life. Can, and should, she forgive Barry? And how does that sit with her attitude to her father, who beat and cheated on her mother?
Other themes
This is primarily the story of an aging and closeted gay Afro-Caribbean couple. However, it touches on many other issues, sometimes from the narrators’ musings, and other times from debates between characters; the former works better.
There’s postnatal depression, sibling dynamics, political activism of various kinds, a tender and amusing sex scene, and plenty of examples of Christian hypocrisy. The most innocuous is a supposed Bible study group where they actually read Barbara Cartland romances, but there are many other examples.
“You never once talked to Reuben about your marriage, so you wasn’t disloyal in that way.”
Image: “Three Wicked Men” by Denzil Forrester, showing the London reggae and dub nightclub scene of the early 1980s - not Barry and Morris’ scene (Source)
Flaws
I loved Barry’s narrative voice, and Carmel’s snippets worked too, with my attitude to her fluctuating as the story progressed. However, many of the other characters, including Morris, were less convincing and seemed to lean towards clichés and caricatures.
Plot-wise, rather too much was crammed in the last few pages: it felt rushed, forced, and unnecessarily tidy. Also, Barry’s generosity (often in secret, for years) seemed more extravagant than would have been possible (or maybe my father was less successful at property-flipping).
Nevertheless, Barry himself carried this effortlessly to 4* for me.
Quotes
• “Waiting for the dawn to rise and for her wrath to descend.”
• “Now her heart is so cold you can snap off a frozen shard and cut a diamond with it.”
• “My amplitudinous, tree-adorned garden that stretches back over seventy flower-bedecked feet.”
• “I am enthroned at the head of the table on my carved antique chair.”
• “I injected a little bit of Hampstead Bohemia into my girl’s Hackney Caribbean childhood.”
• “Donna’s coming-of-rage period.” [adolescence]
• “He must-a watched me cut a distinguished, broad-shouldered swathe through the lumpenproletariat.”
• “Our men don’t know how to stay with our women. Our women don’t know how to raise men who do.”
• “I turn towards him and drape him with myself.”
• “It is our first public display of physical affection in sixty years.” [briefly squeezing hands]
We need Evaristo and her ilk
As with Girl, Woman, Other, this took me into the heart and spirit of a community and culture I have almost no experience of: the good, the bad, the comedic. Most importantly and cleverly, Evaristo makes it distinct, while also demonstrating all that we have in common. This is how to build empathy and understanding between different groups, whether the axes are of colour, gender, sexuality, religion, class, or political alignment.
My experience of Evaristo’s works
After reading Evaristo’s stunning Booker-winning Girl, Woman, Other (see my review HERE), I was keen to read more of her work. I avoided this one because it was only eighteen months after my father’s sudden death, and I knew there were parallels, so I read the hugely disappointing Blonde Roots (see my review HERE). I’m glad that didn’t put me off Evaristo, and that I eventually came to know and love the Barry of this book. As with my own father, I don’t agree with everything he says and does, but he’s real, and I really enjoyed his company.
February 27, 2021
[4.5] To call Mr. Loverman delightful makes it sound like a lighthearted romp. It is delightful but so much more! Barrington Jedidiah Walker, a 74 year old closeted gay man, trapped in an unhappy marriage, is a wonderful, flawed character who I would be happy to follow for many more pages. This is a funny, tender novel that digs deep. I loved it! The audiobook narrators are superb.
August 13, 2021
What a book! Incredibly earnest, at times deeply poignant, but equally shot through with fantastic humour and wit. The characterisation here is amazing - this is an absolute masterclass in how to write fantastic, complex, real, breathing characters. Cannot recommend this one enough. I'd also highly recommend the audiobook, which is outstanding.
September 3, 2020
A truly endearing read! Barry is the character you will be enamoured with!
In Bernardine Evaristo’s Mr. Loverman we meet Barrington Jedidiah Walker a 74-year old Antiguan born, living in England for over 50 years with his wife Carmel. Barry lives with this wife Carmel, their two grown children lives close by but hardly visit. Carmel is a staunched Christian who feels marriage is till death do you part, even if it means staying with her husband who drinks, stays out late, stumble home incoherent and has been cheating on her for years.
What Carmel does not know- or doesn’t want to see is that Barry is in-love with his friend Morris, and they have been together since living as boys on the island of Antigua. Barry has been carrying around this secret for over 60 years, it is a secret he has battled with, it was a very dangerous secret but it is now 2010, why is Barry still hiding? With only so much years left to life, doesn’t Barry deserve to live freely with his soulmate Morris? What would be the consequences and is Barry willing to face the music?
Bernardine’s ability to write unforgettable characters is unmatched! I could not get enough of Barry and I mean that! He is hilarious, outta timing, authentic, irritating, laugh out loud funny and larger than life! I did not want to leave the world of Barry, he was the perfect host! There were times I could shake Barry and bring him to his senses, but that’s what made him a very believable character.
I have never read a book where the main character is a 75-year-old Caribbean man professing his love for his childhood boyfriend and I was here for all of it! The author addressed themes of homophobia, aging, love, manhood- especially in the Caribbean context, regret and marriage- these themes were addressed in a relatable and realistic way. I liked how the father-daughter relationship was portrayed, it was REAL.
I can go on and on about this book- what I will say is that is one of my all-time favourite books- I love it. It is a book that I will revisit for years to come. In finishing the book I had a deep sense of miss for Barry- I want MORE!!!
Truly a must read!
In Bernardine Evaristo’s Mr. Loverman we meet Barrington Jedidiah Walker a 74-year old Antiguan born, living in England for over 50 years with his wife Carmel. Barry lives with this wife Carmel, their two grown children lives close by but hardly visit. Carmel is a staunched Christian who feels marriage is till death do you part, even if it means staying with her husband who drinks, stays out late, stumble home incoherent and has been cheating on her for years.
What Carmel does not know- or doesn’t want to see is that Barry is in-love with his friend Morris, and they have been together since living as boys on the island of Antigua. Barry has been carrying around this secret for over 60 years, it is a secret he has battled with, it was a very dangerous secret but it is now 2010, why is Barry still hiding? With only so much years left to life, doesn’t Barry deserve to live freely with his soulmate Morris? What would be the consequences and is Barry willing to face the music?
Bernardine’s ability to write unforgettable characters is unmatched! I could not get enough of Barry and I mean that! He is hilarious, outta timing, authentic, irritating, laugh out loud funny and larger than life! I did not want to leave the world of Barry, he was the perfect host! There were times I could shake Barry and bring him to his senses, but that’s what made him a very believable character.
I have never read a book where the main character is a 75-year-old Caribbean man professing his love for his childhood boyfriend and I was here for all of it! The author addressed themes of homophobia, aging, love, manhood- especially in the Caribbean context, regret and marriage- these themes were addressed in a relatable and realistic way. I liked how the father-daughter relationship was portrayed, it was REAL.
I can go on and on about this book- what I will say is that is one of my all-time favourite books- I love it. It is a book that I will revisit for years to come. In finishing the book I had a deep sense of miss for Barry- I want MORE!!!
Truly a must read!
March 7, 2022
I’ve decided I love Bernardine Evaristo. I feel like a couple of books into an author’s oeuvre is too early to declare such a thing, but the two novels of hers I’ve read were so different from one another, yet both great reading experiences.
Mr. Loverman has a more traditional structure than Girl, Woman, Other, but it’s still a work of art. Ultimately a poignant portrait of what it’s like for a gay man to be raised in the Caribbean culture that rejects him, and how this wreaks havoc on the people he loves as well as on himself. Mr. Barrington J. Walker, Esq., our guide, is offensive in his assessment of others, yet clever and funny enough to get us to laugh with him. What’s remarkable about what Evaristo does here is that, as we laugh with Barry, we find more sympathy for the people he’s criticizing rather than less. And we can’t help sympathizing with him, too. It doesn’t hurt that some of the peripheral characters get their own chapters to round out our perspective. I can’t imagine any other composition of this story being as effective as this one. And, Evaristo writes with such a love for all her characters, that I can’t help but love them, too. That’s why I can say I love this author after only reading two of her works.
I listened to the audio for this one, and enjoyed hearing it come to life. I think this worked especially well for the humor, but I do wonder if reading the words at my own pace might have heightened my emotional experience.
Mr. Loverman has a more traditional structure than Girl, Woman, Other, but it’s still a work of art. Ultimately a poignant portrait of what it’s like for a gay man to be raised in the Caribbean culture that rejects him, and how this wreaks havoc on the people he loves as well as on himself. Mr. Barrington J. Walker, Esq., our guide, is offensive in his assessment of others, yet clever and funny enough to get us to laugh with him. What’s remarkable about what Evaristo does here is that, as we laugh with Barry, we find more sympathy for the people he’s criticizing rather than less. And we can’t help sympathizing with him, too. It doesn’t hurt that some of the peripheral characters get their own chapters to round out our perspective. I can’t imagine any other composition of this story being as effective as this one. And, Evaristo writes with such a love for all her characters, that I can’t help but love them, too. That’s why I can say I love this author after only reading two of her works.
I listened to the audio for this one, and enjoyed hearing it come to life. I think this worked especially well for the humor, but I do wonder if reading the words at my own pace might have heightened my emotional experience.
Read
February 19, 2017The story of an elderly married Caribbean gentleman finally claiming his sexuality as he decides to get a divorce and live with his lifelong lover Morris, and the effects on him, his family, his life. This is a fabulous read. Barry is a deeply flawed character--unreconstructed and very sexist in some ways, selfish, failing everyone including himself at points--and we see how that's caused by both his character and his upbringing, by racism and colonialism and the lingering effects of slavery many generations on, by religion and shame and social constraints. Everyone in this book is flawed/damaged (hard to say which): his wife Carmen could easily come across as a caricature harpy type, except it's very clear how much her marriage has ruined her life, how she could have been happy and satisfied without the forces of religion and a sham marriage distorting her personality and withering her hopes.
Basically the author makes no excuses for any of her characters but we still root absolutely for them to find a way forward, make atonement, recognise what they did wrong, and finally, at last, get things right. It's a thoroughly uplifting read in the end, even if it's a book all about how badly people screw each other up, because it's also about how we can make changes, and try to make things better.
I could have done without the recurring Shabba Ranks earworm. Otherwise a fantastic book and I love the cover.
Basically the author makes no excuses for any of her characters but we still root absolutely for them to find a way forward, make atonement, recognise what they did wrong, and finally, at last, get things right. It's a thoroughly uplifting read in the end, even if it's a book all about how badly people screw each other up, because it's also about how we can make changes, and try to make things better.
I could have done without the recurring Shabba Ranks earworm. Otherwise a fantastic book and I love the cover.
January 18, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed this. rtc
4.5 Stars
Listened to the audiobook. Ron Butler was fantastic! Robin Miles was very good though her part was much smaller in the book.
4.5 Stars
Listened to the audiobook. Ron Butler was fantastic! Robin Miles was very good though her part was much smaller in the book.
June 27, 2023
[COMENTÁRIO]
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Mr Loverman"
Bernardine Evaristo
Tradução de Miguel Romeira
Esta é uma história diferente, é um livro onde velhice, negritude e sexualidade se cruzam com a escrita poderosa de Evaristo.
Se procura um livro intenso e envolvente sobre amor, identidade e autoaceitação este é o livro certo.
"Mr. Loverman" é um romance da escritora britânica Bernardine Evaristo que conta a história de Barrington Walker, um homem caribenho que vive em Londres com sua esposa e dois filhos. Ainda cheio de energia nos seus setenta e poucos anos, Barrington esconde um suposto segredo: será um homem bissexual no armário que vive há décadas em um relacionamento com seu amante, Morris.
A obra é extremamente bem escrita e destaca a habilidade de Evaristo em criar personagens altamente complexos e realistas. Barrington é uma figura fascinante nas suas falhas e características. Enquanto leitores somos forçado a refletir sobre questões de identidade, sexualidade e autoaceitação e aprendizagem de si mesmo. O livro também retrata a vida de imigrantes caribenhos em Londres, explorando temas como preconceito, racismo e xenofobia.
Além disso, a obra tem uma mensagem universal sobre a importância da felicidade pessoal e do amor, independentemente da orientação sexual do indivíduo.
"Mr. Loverman" é uma obra com momentos emocionantes, engraçados e perspicazes, escrita por uma autora talentosa e habilidosa em criar personagens e histórias poderosas.
Livro lido na iniciativa que promovo chamado #lerLGBTI durante o mês de Fevereiro.
(li de 03/05/2023 a 08/02/2023)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Mr Loverman"
Bernardine Evaristo
Tradução de Miguel Romeira
Esta é uma história diferente, é um livro onde velhice, negritude e sexualidade se cruzam com a escrita poderosa de Evaristo.
Se procura um livro intenso e envolvente sobre amor, identidade e autoaceitação este é o livro certo.
"Mr. Loverman" é um romance da escritora britânica Bernardine Evaristo que conta a história de Barrington Walker, um homem caribenho que vive em Londres com sua esposa e dois filhos. Ainda cheio de energia nos seus setenta e poucos anos, Barrington esconde um suposto segredo: será um homem bissexual no armário que vive há décadas em um relacionamento com seu amante, Morris.
A obra é extremamente bem escrita e destaca a habilidade de Evaristo em criar personagens altamente complexos e realistas. Barrington é uma figura fascinante nas suas falhas e características. Enquanto leitores somos forçado a refletir sobre questões de identidade, sexualidade e autoaceitação e aprendizagem de si mesmo. O livro também retrata a vida de imigrantes caribenhos em Londres, explorando temas como preconceito, racismo e xenofobia.
Além disso, a obra tem uma mensagem universal sobre a importância da felicidade pessoal e do amor, independentemente da orientação sexual do indivíduo.
"Mr. Loverman" é uma obra com momentos emocionantes, engraçados e perspicazes, escrita por uma autora talentosa e habilidosa em criar personagens e histórias poderosas.
Livro lido na iniciativa que promovo chamado #lerLGBTI durante o mês de Fevereiro.
(li de 03/05/2023 a 08/02/2023)
December 29, 2014
Shabba.
Right, we’ve got that out of the way.
(The record is mentioned once in the book, BTW.)
A novel about a seventy-four year old black Caribbean man in East London who’s been in a down-low gay relationship for most of his adult life, and is forced to confront the possibility of divorce from his wife and finally coming out – to some people that may sound rather worthy. Actually, it’s a joy to read: Barrington (aka Barry) is brilliant company as a narrator, he’s funny, well-read and has a great turn of phrase. One of those rare fictional characters where presence and charisma have been created perfectly from mere ink and paper, to the extent that sometimes he makes jokes which from other people might sound uncool, but from him quite the opposite. He’s like an older Peter O’Toole character (but not as decrepit as in Venus) – in the difficult ways as well as the fun ones. Even during the sort of mundane scenes that are often boring in contemporary novels, the smile rarely left my face.
Carmel, Barry’s wife, also has some of the narrative, covering their earlier life together (his is in the present day). Whilst she’s not witty in the same way, these chapters are well written with a slightly poetic structure, more obviously emotive - she's had bouts of severe post-natal depression, a successful career in local government housing, and has suffered under the impression that her husband is a lifelong womaniser - there's lots of big stuff to say because of the amount of time her chapters each cover.
Like characters in Small Island and the sequel to The Lonely Londoners, Barry spotted the opportunity in derelict, cheap houses in then-unfashionable parts of London in the fifties and sixties. By the 2010s he's comfortably established as a well-off landlord, paying for his grandson to attend a top private school. He must be sitting on a fortune, but he and Carmel still live in the first house he bought (he's a Millionaire Next Door type), and they've watched the gentrification of the area happen around and with them. Whilst he hasn't been racially insulted in the street for about twenty years, he still experiences some frostiness in wealthy and central areas of London. The contrast in the acceptance of his wife and elder daughter in senior jobs in local authorities - where they could even be part of a majority in some departments - versus the blocks his other daughter's found in the world of fashion, ring completely true with the compartmentalised communities and sets of attitudes I've noticed in big English cities. (If you work and live in certain highly integrated occupational or geographical areas, it's possible to perceive racism as no longer a daily problem - but there are different worlds not very far away where it still is.)
Without actually declaring themselves, Barry and Morris, his best mate (and partner) have made friends with some locals who implicitly get his relationship situation, including an old health-food shop owner who arrived with the white hippie trustafarians of the 60s and 70s, and a former friend of his daughter, a lesbian from Montserrat who was bravely out from the late 70s onwards. Carmel, meanwhile, socialises mostly with her Pentecostal Christian friends. It's evident that homophobia - from religious people, and in popular culture, such as dancehall lyrics (Barry and Morris still like going clubbing) and violence against 'batty men' - feels a closer, more contemporary threat to Barry than it might for a white bloke of similar social standing. Although a number of characters disagree with Carmel’s opinions about homosexuality, the narrative doesn’t judge her. And if you’ve been around someone like her as, say, a colleague or neighbour, that kind of neutrality, not just dismissing her as a bigot, and seeing different sides of her, whilst keeping something reserved, is familiar.
Okay, there are moments in the book that are a bit two-dimensional or cartoonish. And can you really have a novel about the lives of gay men who sometimes cruised in the late 70s without once alluding to HIV, luck, acquaintances lost? A while ago I might have given 4 or 4.5 stars but right now I’m tired of all that stingy cheese-paring bits of stars: I’ve given so few 5s this year (and am also retrospectively bumping up one or two of the most enjoyable or impressive books).
This book and its central character are really likeable and entertaining. That’s why more people should read it. It also happens to say a lot of the right things and to fit the criteria of those who like to preach demographic quotas for leisure reading – who too often say people *should* read a book because of representation issues, rather than recommending something because it’s well written and/or fun. It’s intersectional without using the term – a word which the narrator would surely make fun of whilst also kind of seeing the point. The most right-on readers could emphasis the pain this man has caused his family, others can enjoy the character as a loveable, stylish, witty rogue - the different sides are all there.
Right, we’ve got that out of the way.
(The record is mentioned once in the book, BTW.)
A novel about a seventy-four year old black Caribbean man in East London who’s been in a down-low gay relationship for most of his adult life, and is forced to confront the possibility of divorce from his wife and finally coming out – to some people that may sound rather worthy. Actually, it’s a joy to read: Barrington (aka Barry) is brilliant company as a narrator, he’s funny, well-read and has a great turn of phrase. One of those rare fictional characters where presence and charisma have been created perfectly from mere ink and paper, to the extent that sometimes he makes jokes which from other people might sound uncool, but from him quite the opposite. He’s like an older Peter O’Toole character (but not as decrepit as in Venus) – in the difficult ways as well as the fun ones. Even during the sort of mundane scenes that are often boring in contemporary novels, the smile rarely left my face.
Carmel, Barry’s wife, also has some of the narrative, covering their earlier life together (his is in the present day). Whilst she’s not witty in the same way, these chapters are well written with a slightly poetic structure, more obviously emotive - she's had bouts of severe post-natal depression, a successful career in local government housing, and has suffered under the impression that her husband is a lifelong womaniser - there's lots of big stuff to say because of the amount of time her chapters each cover.
Like characters in Small Island and the sequel to The Lonely Londoners, Barry spotted the opportunity in derelict, cheap houses in then-unfashionable parts of London in the fifties and sixties. By the 2010s he's comfortably established as a well-off landlord, paying for his grandson to attend a top private school. He must be sitting on a fortune, but he and Carmel still live in the first house he bought (he's a Millionaire Next Door type), and they've watched the gentrification of the area happen around and with them. Whilst he hasn't been racially insulted in the street for about twenty years, he still experiences some frostiness in wealthy and central areas of London. The contrast in the acceptance of his wife and elder daughter in senior jobs in local authorities - where they could even be part of a majority in some departments - versus the blocks his other daughter's found in the world of fashion, ring completely true with the compartmentalised communities and sets of attitudes I've noticed in big English cities. (If you work and live in certain highly integrated occupational or geographical areas, it's possible to perceive racism as no longer a daily problem - but there are different worlds not very far away where it still is.)
Without actually declaring themselves, Barry and Morris, his best mate (and partner) have made friends with some locals who implicitly get his relationship situation, including an old health-food shop owner who arrived with the white hippie trustafarians of the 60s and 70s, and a former friend of his daughter, a lesbian from Montserrat who was bravely out from the late 70s onwards. Carmel, meanwhile, socialises mostly with her Pentecostal Christian friends. It's evident that homophobia - from religious people, and in popular culture, such as dancehall lyrics (Barry and Morris still like going clubbing) and violence against 'batty men' - feels a closer, more contemporary threat to Barry than it might for a white bloke of similar social standing. Although a number of characters disagree with Carmel’s opinions about homosexuality, the narrative doesn’t judge her. And if you’ve been around someone like her as, say, a colleague or neighbour, that kind of neutrality, not just dismissing her as a bigot, and seeing different sides of her, whilst keeping something reserved, is familiar.
Okay, there are moments in the book that are a bit two-dimensional or cartoonish. And can you really have a novel about the lives of gay men who sometimes cruised in the late 70s without once alluding to HIV, luck, acquaintances lost? A while ago I might have given 4 or 4.5 stars but right now I’m tired of all that stingy cheese-paring bits of stars: I’ve given so few 5s this year (and am also retrospectively bumping up one or two of the most enjoyable or impressive books).
This book and its central character are really likeable and entertaining. That’s why more people should read it. It also happens to say a lot of the right things and to fit the criteria of those who like to preach demographic quotas for leisure reading – who too often say people *should* read a book because of representation issues, rather than recommending something because it’s well written and/or fun. It’s intersectional without using the term – a word which the narrator would surely make fun of whilst also kind of seeing the point. The most right-on readers could emphasis the pain this man has caused his family, others can enjoy the character as a loveable, stylish, witty rogue - the different sides are all there.
December 25, 2020
We all present carefully selected versions of we-selves to the world at large.
...
Does he really want to be a relative pariah, no longer a dapper ladies man?
Before her Booker prize winning Girl, Woman, Other, Bernadine Evaristo published a number of other innovative literary works (novels in verse a particular speciality). Mr Loverman (2014) was the immediate predecessor to GWO, her seventh book, and formally at least perhaps more conventional than some of her earlier works.
The main character and narrator Barry, is wonderfully drawn in a very balanced way. His style, wit, passion, business acumen, generosity and intellect come through strongly:
`One of my small victories, Mr de la Roux. Getting you reading fiction. Remember the days when people sat on the tube reading good book?'
‘Not everyone's a book reader like you. A newspaper will do,'
‘Not that rubbish red-top you read, Morris. Full of tittle. tattle, sensationalism, soundbiteism and nakedism.'
`Why you always pontificating? I do read books, his. tory books and those fat biographies my sons get me for Christmas.'
`Biographies are just glorified gossip too. Novels, poetry and plays are the great investigators of the human psy. the. Nothing can beat 'em. And as a real literature aficionado, I'm in the top 10 per cent of the Great Brit-ish Public. Did I tell you about my love affair with Mr Shakespeare?'
But, even in his first person account, his vanity, and chauvinism come through as well as his poor treatment of his, rather naive, wife, whose own first person historical accounts give us much of the back story (and also give us access to Evaristo’s unconventional yet highly readable verse/prose style).
It was nice to see a sympathetic portrayal of someone whose main wealth came from being a residential landlord, although there was one odd note. Barrington at one point explains that while the UK is currently relatively accommodating to people of his ethnicity, and indeed sexuality, he is prepared for the possibility this may not persist and ready, and financially secured, to flee the country if there ever were a fundamental change in regime or popular attitudes. Except (my issue), if his wealth is tied in property it may not be so simple.
One of Evaristo’s many strengths, as show cased in GWO, is her ability to create a great cast of characters. She does so here as well, although at times I felt I wanted to read more about Barry and Morris, and less about his wife’s friends or his daughter’s rather unrealistic business plans.
But still a strong novel. 4 stars.
Read Christmas 2020 in Antigua, where, after a difficult 12 months, I find myself in particular agreement with this line:
‘Nothing rum can’t make better,’ I say, feeling my chest warm up. ‘it guaranteed to dissolve the stressment.’
...
Does he really want to be a relative pariah, no longer a dapper ladies man?
Before her Booker prize winning Girl, Woman, Other, Bernadine Evaristo published a number of other innovative literary works (novels in verse a particular speciality). Mr Loverman (2014) was the immediate predecessor to GWO, her seventh book, and formally at least perhaps more conventional than some of her earlier works.
The main character and narrator Barry, is wonderfully drawn in a very balanced way. His style, wit, passion, business acumen, generosity and intellect come through strongly:
`One of my small victories, Mr de la Roux. Getting you reading fiction. Remember the days when people sat on the tube reading good book?'
‘Not everyone's a book reader like you. A newspaper will do,'
‘Not that rubbish red-top you read, Morris. Full of tittle. tattle, sensationalism, soundbiteism and nakedism.'
`Why you always pontificating? I do read books, his. tory books and those fat biographies my sons get me for Christmas.'
`Biographies are just glorified gossip too. Novels, poetry and plays are the great investigators of the human psy. the. Nothing can beat 'em. And as a real literature aficionado, I'm in the top 10 per cent of the Great Brit-ish Public. Did I tell you about my love affair with Mr Shakespeare?'
But, even in his first person account, his vanity, and chauvinism come through as well as his poor treatment of his, rather naive, wife, whose own first person historical accounts give us much of the back story (and also give us access to Evaristo’s unconventional yet highly readable verse/prose style).
It was nice to see a sympathetic portrayal of someone whose main wealth came from being a residential landlord, although there was one odd note. Barrington at one point explains that while the UK is currently relatively accommodating to people of his ethnicity, and indeed sexuality, he is prepared for the possibility this may not persist and ready, and financially secured, to flee the country if there ever were a fundamental change in regime or popular attitudes. Except (my issue), if his wealth is tied in property it may not be so simple.
One of Evaristo’s many strengths, as show cased in GWO, is her ability to create a great cast of characters. She does so here as well, although at times I felt I wanted to read more about Barry and Morris, and less about his wife’s friends or his daughter’s rather unrealistic business plans.
But still a strong novel. 4 stars.
Read Christmas 2020 in Antigua, where, after a difficult 12 months, I find myself in particular agreement with this line:
‘Nothing rum can’t make better,’ I say, feeling my chest warm up. ‘it guaranteed to dissolve the stressment.’
April 16, 2024
I enjoyed this book immensely. Bernardine Evaristo is an incredibly talented author and her witty writing is certainly on display here.
Barrington Jedidiah Walker (Mr. Loverman) is a hoot! Witty, audacious, loving and carefree. He's a 74 year old closeted gay man born in Antigua and living in London with his wife of 50 years. Oh, and did I mention his lover (whom his wife figures as just his BFF) lives nearby where they enjoy a tryst every now and then, unbeknownst to anyone? Will Barry finally tell his wife that he is no longer happy in this marriage and prefer to spend the rest of his life with his lover? I think the subtitle to this book could have been -- Mr. Loverman: Travails of A Marriage Gone Bad.
Excellent read!
Barrington Jedidiah Walker (Mr. Loverman) is a hoot! Witty, audacious, loving and carefree. He's a 74 year old closeted gay man born in Antigua and living in London with his wife of 50 years. Oh, and did I mention his lover (whom his wife figures as just his BFF) lives nearby where they enjoy a tryst every now and then, unbeknownst to anyone? Will Barry finally tell his wife that he is no longer happy in this marriage and prefer to spend the rest of his life with his lover? I think the subtitle to this book could have been -- Mr. Loverman: Travails of A Marriage Gone Bad.
Excellent read!
August 24, 2021
My head is spinning as to what to say about this wonderful story of Barrington Jedediah Walker, that's Barry to you if you please. From the outside, Barry and his family look like a successful immigrant story. He married Carmel back home in Antigua, they emigrated at a young age to London with many others from his small island, he and Carmel had two daughters who are now 30-ish independent adults, he has worked at the Ford Motor factory for 40 years, he's built up quite a portfolio of rental real-estate, and he's also built up quite a knowledge base and vocabulary. I mean, really, just look at him!
But behind this veneer of success, there are problems. Barry drinks to excess. Barry stays out all night and sometimes for more than one which gives Carmel fits. And as to his knowledge base, his vocabulary and his look he's stuck somewhere in the 1960's. But his biggest problem is his secret. He has been in a relationship with his childhood friend, Morris, since before coming to London. We enter this story when Barry is 74. He is ripe for a change, but he is also comfortable with the discomfort of how things are and believes, right or wrong, that he's holding everything together.
Early in the book, we learn that Barry is retiring. He tells us:
"After forty years at the coal face mi get a tie, mi get a rubbish-engraved plate, mi get a watch that is more Timex than Rolex, and mi get a clammy handshake and patronizing speech from the managing director Mr. Lardy Comb-Over in the staff canteen."
This change throws Barry off-kilter. No longer having his well-ordered semblance of normalcy, he starts to make plans to leave and divorce Carmel so he can be with his true-love Morris. But we see how really comfortable Barry is with his discomfort. Making plans and acting on them are two different things!
This story is told in Barry's voice in chapters that begin "The Art of . . ." and chapters told by Carmel that begin "Song of . . .". Barry's chapters are full of swagger, humor, angst and suspense while Carmel's chapters are written in prose poem style, talking to herself, full of longing for a life she imagined but didn't get. Will Barry or won't he leave? Will Carmel get the life of love that she deserves? I say pick up a copy of this book to find out! You'll perhaps have an even better experience if you listen to this, wonderfully narrated by Ron Butler and Robin Miles.
Why I'm reading this: It's the monthly book pick of the 21 Century book group here on GR, and I've wanted to read this for a while.
But behind this veneer of success, there are problems. Barry drinks to excess. Barry stays out all night and sometimes for more than one which gives Carmel fits. And as to his knowledge base, his vocabulary and his look he's stuck somewhere in the 1960's. But his biggest problem is his secret. He has been in a relationship with his childhood friend, Morris, since before coming to London. We enter this story when Barry is 74. He is ripe for a change, but he is also comfortable with the discomfort of how things are and believes, right or wrong, that he's holding everything together.
Early in the book, we learn that Barry is retiring. He tells us:
"After forty years at the coal face mi get a tie, mi get a rubbish-engraved plate, mi get a watch that is more Timex than Rolex, and mi get a clammy handshake and patronizing speech from the managing director Mr. Lardy Comb-Over in the staff canteen."
This change throws Barry off-kilter. No longer having his well-ordered semblance of normalcy, he starts to make plans to leave and divorce Carmel so he can be with his true-love Morris. But we see how really comfortable Barry is with his discomfort. Making plans and acting on them are two different things!
This story is told in Barry's voice in chapters that begin "The Art of . . ." and chapters told by Carmel that begin "Song of . . .". Barry's chapters are full of swagger, humor, angst and suspense while Carmel's chapters are written in prose poem style, talking to herself, full of longing for a life she imagined but didn't get. Will Barry or won't he leave? Will Carmel get the life of love that she deserves? I say pick up a copy of this book to find out! You'll perhaps have an even better experience if you listen to this, wonderfully narrated by Ron Butler and Robin Miles.
Why I'm reading this: It's the monthly book pick of the 21 Century book group here on GR, and I've wanted to read this for a while.
August 14, 2021
Some aspects of this novel made it difficult for me to enter into the fictional dream, or to allow the book to tell its story without provoking back-talk from me as I read along. I was so enamored of Barry as a fictional character, and so attached to the narrative voice--so full of regret, and guilt, and wisdom-come-too-late, and, yes, love in that opening chapter-- that I got cranky whenever the story moved away from him.
This is one of those cases where I can recognize a work of mastery for what it is, and can see clearly it's my fault that I'm not fully up to appreciating it.
This is one of those cases where I can recognize a work of mastery for what it is, and can see clearly it's my fault that I'm not fully up to appreciating it.
May 28, 2020
Audio 5 +++ Stars
Story 5 I Felt the Vibes Stars
I loved this so much! Barry is one heck of an opinionated and self assured character! I friggin' loved him even though I didn't always agree with him. As for wifey, I felt for her a bit, but for such a strong willed woman, she was doormat. And my sympathy for doormats only goes so far. 🤷🏽♀️
This was a fun, hilarious and heartfelt read!
Story 5 I Felt the Vibes Stars
I loved this so much! Barry is one heck of an opinionated and self assured character! I friggin' loved him even though I didn't always agree with him. As for wifey, I felt for her a bit, but for such a strong willed woman, she was doormat. And my sympathy for doormats only goes so far. 🤷🏽♀️
This was a fun, hilarious and heartfelt read!
December 27, 2020
Here is a story about a closeted homosexual. His name is Barry. His long-time partner is Morris. Both are Antiguan immigrants living in London, arriving in the early 1950s when they were in their twenties. Morris emigrated first, Barry followed. Their mutual attraction and affection for each other had sparked in their early teens. In London, Morris waited for Barry but eventually he got sick and tired of waiting. Would Barry actually ever come and could they ever become a pair?! Social conventions being what they were, both ended up married to Antiguan women.
In 1989, Morris divorced, asked Barry to leave his wife and move in with him. Will Barry dare to rock the boat? He is close to his daughters, at least the younger of the two. And, to be honest, his wife’s cooking wasn’t bad. She cooked Antiguan food that was better than good! His wife fails to understand his total lack of sexual interest. She believes he has mistresses, female mistresses! How could Barry ever explain? If you are a realist, such as me, one might question her obtuseness. Halfheartedly, Barry asks her for a divorce. She adamantly declares, “Marriage is forever!“
Now it’s 2010 and both are seventy-four. The kids are adults; they are no longer a viable excuse. If Barry and Morris are to ever declare their love openly, they don't have time to wait. The clock is ticking.
There you have an idea of what lies ahead. The telling focuses primarily on Barry. It switches from the present to flashbacks, some in Antigua, others in London, most about Barry, some about his wife. Besides the focus upon closeted homosexuality, what is drawn is the life of West Indian immigrants in England and dysfunctional family relationships.
Humor lightens the tale. I adored the ingenuous lines that bubbled out of the mouth of Maxine, Barry’s youngest daughter. She is forty in 2010, but all those who have had kids will laugh at the stuff that they can come up with even as adults. Maturity doesn’t come over night! There are numerous funny lines to suck on. The humor often relates to the process of growing up, being a parent and our contemporary society.
The tone of the novel is further lightened by catchy, jaunty, upbeat prose. Sections read as prose poetry. Overall, the prose is above ordinary. It has a unique quality, an unusual flamboyancy. I am glad to have read the book to have sampled the prose.
I had planned on giving the book four stars, until I approached the end. The ending is too neat, too rosy and sweet. I am one who prefers realism. The events that occur at the end just happen; the reader is not shown why they would / should happen as they do.
James Goode narrates the audiobook with panache. He uses both a Caribbean patois and a modern day British accent, and he flips back and forth with ease. His voice reflects who is speaking, whether it be a hip younger person or an older person, male or female, a relaxed, nonchalant type or a prudish figure holding antiquated views. The narration brings the humor in the lines to the fore. I have been told that some of the chapters lack punctuation—you don’t have to deal with this in the audio version. If you decide to read the book, choose the audiobook. Five stars for the audio narration.
I enjoyed reading this, but the ending disappointed me.
In 1989, Morris divorced, asked Barry to leave his wife and move in with him. Will Barry dare to rock the boat? He is close to his daughters, at least the younger of the two. And, to be honest, his wife’s cooking wasn’t bad. She cooked Antiguan food that was better than good! His wife fails to understand his total lack of sexual interest. She believes he has mistresses, female mistresses! How could Barry ever explain? If you are a realist, such as me, one might question her obtuseness. Halfheartedly, Barry asks her for a divorce. She adamantly declares, “Marriage is forever!“
Now it’s 2010 and both are seventy-four. The kids are adults; they are no longer a viable excuse. If Barry and Morris are to ever declare their love openly, they don't have time to wait. The clock is ticking.
There you have an idea of what lies ahead. The telling focuses primarily on Barry. It switches from the present to flashbacks, some in Antigua, others in London, most about Barry, some about his wife. Besides the focus upon closeted homosexuality, what is drawn is the life of West Indian immigrants in England and dysfunctional family relationships.
Humor lightens the tale. I adored the ingenuous lines that bubbled out of the mouth of Maxine, Barry’s youngest daughter. She is forty in 2010, but all those who have had kids will laugh at the stuff that they can come up with even as adults. Maturity doesn’t come over night! There are numerous funny lines to suck on. The humor often relates to the process of growing up, being a parent and our contemporary society.
The tone of the novel is further lightened by catchy, jaunty, upbeat prose. Sections read as prose poetry. Overall, the prose is above ordinary. It has a unique quality, an unusual flamboyancy. I am glad to have read the book to have sampled the prose.
I had planned on giving the book four stars, until I approached the end. The ending is too neat, too rosy and sweet. I am one who prefers realism. The events that occur at the end just happen; the reader is not shown why they would / should happen as they do.
James Goode narrates the audiobook with panache. He uses both a Caribbean patois and a modern day British accent, and he flips back and forth with ease. His voice reflects who is speaking, whether it be a hip younger person or an older person, male or female, a relaxed, nonchalant type or a prudish figure holding antiquated views. The narration brings the humor in the lines to the fore. I have been told that some of the chapters lack punctuation—you don’t have to deal with this in the audio version. If you decide to read the book, choose the audiobook. Five stars for the audio narration.
I enjoyed reading this, but the ending disappointed me.
April 29, 2020
FINAL REVIEW: No one would blame you if you fell in love with Barrington Walker, the protagonist from Mr Loverman. This 74 year old Antiguan man, living in the UK. This man and his colorful suits; married to a devout religious woman, while having a secret homosexual realtionship with his best friend, Morris. This man who has decided to leave his wife of 50 years to pursue the life he should have always had with the love of his life. Or maybe you’ll fall for a number of other characters. Perhaps Morris. Of course Morris!! That’s what Evariso did here: she created characters who will charm you to no end and have you momentarily forgetting they’re just characters in a damn book. Good grief.
Barry’s prior decision to stay in a loveless marriage is not an admirable one, but it is something Evaristo uses as a catalyst to explore important themes. We witness the rampant homophobia embedded in Caribbean culture, where one of men’s biggest fears is coming off as non-masculine. As much as Barry is not ashamed of his sexuality and his love for Morris, he’s worried about how people outside of their utopia will view him. The narrative also explores what it feels like to finally want to embrace your true sexuality in old age; the regret over all the youthful years spent in hiding, only capturing loving moments behind closed doors. Barry and Morris’ love is far from a fairytale; there are fights, misunderstandings, and disappointments, but their devotion is unshakable. These two men want nothing more than to be careless and carefree with one another, even though their decision will leave a lot of devastation in its wake. Yes, Barry is self-centered, he is full of himself and indignant; you’d be forgiven for wanting someone to clock him, but even through all this frustration, he is lovable.
That’s what I want to leave you with: even though this novel tackles some heavy themes, it is delightfully told. Funny, touching, soulful, and romantic. Get ready to fall in love.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_iEtV1Aj...
Barry’s prior decision to stay in a loveless marriage is not an admirable one, but it is something Evaristo uses as a catalyst to explore important themes. We witness the rampant homophobia embedded in Caribbean culture, where one of men’s biggest fears is coming off as non-masculine. As much as Barry is not ashamed of his sexuality and his love for Morris, he’s worried about how people outside of their utopia will view him. The narrative also explores what it feels like to finally want to embrace your true sexuality in old age; the regret over all the youthful years spent in hiding, only capturing loving moments behind closed doors. Barry and Morris’ love is far from a fairytale; there are fights, misunderstandings, and disappointments, but their devotion is unshakable. These two men want nothing more than to be careless and carefree with one another, even though their decision will leave a lot of devastation in its wake. Yes, Barry is self-centered, he is full of himself and indignant; you’d be forgiven for wanting someone to clock him, but even through all this frustration, he is lovable.
That’s what I want to leave you with: even though this novel tackles some heavy themes, it is delightfully told. Funny, touching, soulful, and romantic. Get ready to fall in love.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_iEtV1Aj...
October 29, 2019
3.5, rounded down.
I didn't much care for Evaristo's Booker winner (see: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) but wanted to give her another try, to determine whether I just didn't care for that particular book, or if it was Evaristo's style I didn't cotton to. It's a little of both, although I did enjoy this effort more than GWO.
The subject at hand was a bit more appealing and succinct, about an elderly Antiguan transplant to the UK, Barrington Walker, attempting to extricate himself from a 5o year loveless marriage, in favor of cohabiting with his longtime male lover, Morris. Most of the book is told straightforwardly in the first person present day from Barry's perspective, and these chapters were the more successful. Interspersed, however, were a few chapters rendered in Evaristo's idiosyncratic no punctuation, no capitalization poetic prose style as in GWO, detailing (mostly superfluously and in minute detail), events from the past. These dragged and lost the book at least one star.
My other quibble is that anachronisms abound ... for example, Barry knows all about Lady Gaga and Alan Hollinghurst (and listens to contemporary hip-hop artist, Shabba, whose song gives the tome its title) ... but has no clue what LGBT stands for. And while Evaristo piles on redundant details about each of the four church-going friends of wife Carmel, Morris, who would seem to cry out for such elucidation, remains a cipher. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of elderly black gay characters in literature, so one has to applaud the effort to redress such absence. It didn't convert me to being a fan of Evaristo, however, and doubt I'll be reading any more of her back catalog.
I didn't much care for Evaristo's Booker winner (see: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) but wanted to give her another try, to determine whether I just didn't care for that particular book, or if it was Evaristo's style I didn't cotton to. It's a little of both, although I did enjoy this effort more than GWO.
The subject at hand was a bit more appealing and succinct, about an elderly Antiguan transplant to the UK, Barrington Walker, attempting to extricate himself from a 5o year loveless marriage, in favor of cohabiting with his longtime male lover, Morris. Most of the book is told straightforwardly in the first person present day from Barry's perspective, and these chapters were the more successful. Interspersed, however, were a few chapters rendered in Evaristo's idiosyncratic no punctuation, no capitalization poetic prose style as in GWO, detailing (mostly superfluously and in minute detail), events from the past. These dragged and lost the book at least one star.
My other quibble is that anachronisms abound ... for example, Barry knows all about Lady Gaga and Alan Hollinghurst (and listens to contemporary hip-hop artist, Shabba, whose song gives the tome its title) ... but has no clue what LGBT stands for. And while Evaristo piles on redundant details about each of the four church-going friends of wife Carmel, Morris, who would seem to cry out for such elucidation, remains a cipher. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of elderly black gay characters in literature, so one has to applaud the effort to redress such absence. It didn't convert me to being a fan of Evaristo, however, and doubt I'll be reading any more of her back catalog.
February 12, 2020
Barry, who came to London from Antigua, has been married to Carmel for 50 years and they have two adult daughters. For years Carmel has been fed up with his drinking and gallivanting, assuming that he has lots of women on the side. Little does she know that Barry’s best friend, Morris, has also been his lover for 60 years. Morris divorced his own wife long ago, and he’s keen for Barry to leave Carmel and set up home with him, maybe even get a civil partnership. When Carmel goes back to Antigua for her father’s funeral, it’s Barry’s last chance to live it up as a bachelor and pluck up his courage to tell his wife the truth.
Barry’s voice is a delight: a funny mixture of patois and formality; slang and Shakespeare quotes. Cleverly, Evaristo avoids turning Carmel into a mute victim by giving her occasional chapters of her own (“Song of…” versus Barry’s “The Art of…” chapters), written in the second person and in the hybrid poetry style readers of Girl, Woman, Other will recognize. From these sections we learn that Carmel has her own secrets and an equal determination to live a more authentic life. Although it’s sad that these two characters have spent so long trapped in “the loneliest-ownliest marriage in the world,” deceiving each other and themselves, this is essentially a comic novel that pokes fun at traditional mores and includes several glittering portraits. Daughter Maxine, a fashion designer with daffy ideas, was a favorite.
Favorite lines:
“The whole point of a midlife crisis is to start living the life you want instead of tolerating the life you have.”
“We all present carefully selected versions of we-selves to the world at large.”
Barry’s voice is a delight: a funny mixture of patois and formality; slang and Shakespeare quotes. Cleverly, Evaristo avoids turning Carmel into a mute victim by giving her occasional chapters of her own (“Song of…” versus Barry’s “The Art of…” chapters), written in the second person and in the hybrid poetry style readers of Girl, Woman, Other will recognize. From these sections we learn that Carmel has her own secrets and an equal determination to live a more authentic life. Although it’s sad that these two characters have spent so long trapped in “the loneliest-ownliest marriage in the world,” deceiving each other and themselves, this is essentially a comic novel that pokes fun at traditional mores and includes several glittering portraits. Daughter Maxine, a fashion designer with daffy ideas, was a favorite.
Favorite lines:
“The whole point of a midlife crisis is to start living the life you want instead of tolerating the life you have.”
“We all present carefully selected versions of we-selves to the world at large.”
June 30, 2020
I can't remember the last time I was as absorbed in a novel as I was in Mr. Loverman.
Mr. Loverman is such an endearing, big-hearted book, largely owing to its inimitable narrator and protagonist, Barry Walker. What Evaristo does so brilliantly in this novel is render his voice with nuance and humour; Barry's voice is undeniably his.
What stands out to me most about Evaristo's writing is how invested she is in her characters' idiolects: the specific quirks of their speech, their various mannerisms. This is most apparent in Barry's chapters, but also in Carmel's beautifully rendered, almost poetic ones. Every character in Mr. Loverman sounds like themselves. Which is kind of strange to say, given that the writing forms the characters and not the other way around, but it really does feel like that.
Mr. Loverman is about family and identity, what it means to situate yourself within those two. Throughout the novel, Barry tries to navigate the intersections between his various identities as a gay man, a father, a husband, a lover, a grandfather. Inevitably, the novel is also about the ways in which we let others down, but also about the ways in which we can change and take steps towards reconciliation and redemption, no matter how small.
Mr. Loverman is such an endearing, big-hearted book, largely owing to its inimitable narrator and protagonist, Barry Walker. What Evaristo does so brilliantly in this novel is render his voice with nuance and humour; Barry's voice is undeniably his.
What stands out to me most about Evaristo's writing is how invested she is in her characters' idiolects: the specific quirks of their speech, their various mannerisms. This is most apparent in Barry's chapters, but also in Carmel's beautifully rendered, almost poetic ones. Every character in Mr. Loverman sounds like themselves. Which is kind of strange to say, given that the writing forms the characters and not the other way around, but it really does feel like that.
Mr. Loverman is about family and identity, what it means to situate yourself within those two. Throughout the novel, Barry tries to navigate the intersections between his various identities as a gay man, a father, a husband, a lover, a grandfather. Inevitably, the novel is also about the ways in which we let others down, but also about the ways in which we can change and take steps towards reconciliation and redemption, no matter how small.
April 27, 2016
The most entertaining book I've read this year, so far.
In "Mr. Loverman", Bernardine Evaristo writes about 70+ year old Barry, an Antiguan living in London in a loveless marriage. He's retired, spry, financially comfortable, forever learning, extremely dapper, witty as hell, and enjoys liquor a little too much. His wife, Carmel, suspects he's been cheating on her with various loose women since the beginning of their marriage over 50 years ago, so she unleashes fire on him every time he enters their home. While he takes all of her fury in stride, he quietly contemplates divorce so that he can live the rest of his golden years with his life long best friend, Morris. Barry and Morris are besties, and have been since their teen years, but they are also lovers. Shocking, I know, but you learn this in the synopsis in the novels cover flap. No biggie.
The real biggie here is the writing, which sucks you in immediately. Evaristo switches from Barry's POV to Carmel's life story every few chapters. Again, Barry is witty and many times hilarious, as he explains the joys of loving his best friend in private while raising a family with the most beautiful woman on the island of Antigua, who eventually turns cold and evil with her pack of girlfriends to support her every snarl. Rightfully so, as she's committed to her vows and will not part from Barry despite feeling unloved for decades.
Many times Barry feels heavy guilt on both sides: making his best friend wait in the shadows makes him feel terrible, and putting Carmel through hell does as well. On the flip side, Carmel's story, through poetic prose, shares her experience falling in love with the most sought after young man on her island, to moving her family to London and questioning why her husband doesn't love her the way that he should. Thrown in are the lives of their daughters, grandson, friends, and Morris's struggle with living a double life, as well.
Though the subject matter is heavy with the ultimate moral being the devastation that takes place when people are not given the freedom to live life as they should, Evaristo makes you chuckle on every page and laugh out loud on every other (she reminds me of why I fell in love with all of Andrea Levy's novels). She's also a pro at aptly describing each character's motivations and intentions, and does well in enveloping the reader in Antiguan culture to the point that one is surprised she isn't Antiguan herself. I loved her writing style, especially the prose used for Carmel's story. The ending catches you by surprise but it's still rather satisfying, and I'd absolutely love to see this as a PBS or BBC miniseries.
Definitely adding Evaristo to my list of favorite authors now.
In "Mr. Loverman", Bernardine Evaristo writes about 70+ year old Barry, an Antiguan living in London in a loveless marriage. He's retired, spry, financially comfortable, forever learning, extremely dapper, witty as hell, and enjoys liquor a little too much. His wife, Carmel, suspects he's been cheating on her with various loose women since the beginning of their marriage over 50 years ago, so she unleashes fire on him every time he enters their home. While he takes all of her fury in stride, he quietly contemplates divorce so that he can live the rest of his golden years with his life long best friend, Morris. Barry and Morris are besties, and have been since their teen years, but they are also lovers. Shocking, I know, but you learn this in the synopsis in the novels cover flap. No biggie.
The real biggie here is the writing, which sucks you in immediately. Evaristo switches from Barry's POV to Carmel's life story every few chapters. Again, Barry is witty and many times hilarious, as he explains the joys of loving his best friend in private while raising a family with the most beautiful woman on the island of Antigua, who eventually turns cold and evil with her pack of girlfriends to support her every snarl. Rightfully so, as she's committed to her vows and will not part from Barry despite feeling unloved for decades.
Many times Barry feels heavy guilt on both sides: making his best friend wait in the shadows makes him feel terrible, and putting Carmel through hell does as well. On the flip side, Carmel's story, through poetic prose, shares her experience falling in love with the most sought after young man on her island, to moving her family to London and questioning why her husband doesn't love her the way that he should. Thrown in are the lives of their daughters, grandson, friends, and Morris's struggle with living a double life, as well.
Though the subject matter is heavy with the ultimate moral being the devastation that takes place when people are not given the freedom to live life as they should, Evaristo makes you chuckle on every page and laugh out loud on every other (she reminds me of why I fell in love with all of Andrea Levy's novels). She's also a pro at aptly describing each character's motivations and intentions, and does well in enveloping the reader in Antiguan culture to the point that one is surprised she isn't Antiguan herself. I loved her writing style, especially the prose used for Carmel's story. The ending catches you by surprise but it's still rather satisfying, and I'd absolutely love to see this as a PBS or BBC miniseries.
Definitely adding Evaristo to my list of favorite authors now.
July 13, 2021
Mr. Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo introduces us to the delightful 74-year-old Barrington Jedidiah Walker (Barry), born in Antigua and transplanted to Hackney, London.
Barry is a dapper, flamboyant, Shakespeare-quoting successful businessman, husband to Carmel for fifty years, father to Donna and Maxine, and grandfather to the teenaged Daniel. Carmel is convinced Barry stays out late at night because he cheats on her with other women. She’s wrong—and right. Barry has never cheated on Carmel with another woman. And he never will. But that’s not to say he hasn’t cheated. Barry has a secret lover by the name of Morris. The two have been closeted lovers since their boyhood days in Antigua. Their ongoing love affair has lasted decades and continues into their adult life in London.
The novel unfolds primarily in the first-person voice of Barry. He is witty, sarcastic, intelligent, generous, full of vim and vigor, with an endearing and magnetic personality. He is also chauvinistic, homophobic, and unconscionably selfish for deceiving his wife for so many decades. Barry’s narrative is interrupted with Carmel’s first-person voice. Carmel’s monologues are sheer poetry. The unpunctuated, rhythmic lyricism of her language is breathtaking. Her cadence is captured so well that one can almost hear her speak. She talks to herself, chastises herself, recalls her past, her hopes and aspirations, and her disappointment in marriage and in the man she married.
The alternating narrators shift back and forth in time. Through their narratives we learn the back story of Barry and Carmel, their marriage, their relocation to England, the birth of their daughters, Carmel’s pursuit of a degree, her career, and Barry’s business success. Their lives are peppered with the presence of Carmel’s life-long, church-going friends who are never short of gossip or advice, but who are always there to support each other. And then, of course, there’s the kind, gentle, loveable Morris.
All the characters have distinct, unique voices. They are authentic, and so well drawn, they can step off the page. The novel moves at a brisk pace. The dialog sizzles. The bond between Barry and Morris is deep-seated and enduring. They know one another so well they can almost read each other’s thoughts, finish each other’s sentences. Their conversations are crisp and entertaining and choke full of humor.
The novel explores a multitude of themes: intergenerational conflicts; love in its various manifestations; homophobia; gender socialization and identity; misogyny; aging; race relations; and masculinity. The themes are intricately woven together, finding expression in a cast of delightful, unforgettable characters all of whom rotate, gravitate, oscillate toward the hilarious, exasperating, unforgettable, and totally charming Barry, their axis mundi.
Highly recommended for its humor and brilliant character portrayals.
My book reviews are also available at www.tamaraaghajaffar.com
Barry is a dapper, flamboyant, Shakespeare-quoting successful businessman, husband to Carmel for fifty years, father to Donna and Maxine, and grandfather to the teenaged Daniel. Carmel is convinced Barry stays out late at night because he cheats on her with other women. She’s wrong—and right. Barry has never cheated on Carmel with another woman. And he never will. But that’s not to say he hasn’t cheated. Barry has a secret lover by the name of Morris. The two have been closeted lovers since their boyhood days in Antigua. Their ongoing love affair has lasted decades and continues into their adult life in London.
The novel unfolds primarily in the first-person voice of Barry. He is witty, sarcastic, intelligent, generous, full of vim and vigor, with an endearing and magnetic personality. He is also chauvinistic, homophobic, and unconscionably selfish for deceiving his wife for so many decades. Barry’s narrative is interrupted with Carmel’s first-person voice. Carmel’s monologues are sheer poetry. The unpunctuated, rhythmic lyricism of her language is breathtaking. Her cadence is captured so well that one can almost hear her speak. She talks to herself, chastises herself, recalls her past, her hopes and aspirations, and her disappointment in marriage and in the man she married.
The alternating narrators shift back and forth in time. Through their narratives we learn the back story of Barry and Carmel, their marriage, their relocation to England, the birth of their daughters, Carmel’s pursuit of a degree, her career, and Barry’s business success. Their lives are peppered with the presence of Carmel’s life-long, church-going friends who are never short of gossip or advice, but who are always there to support each other. And then, of course, there’s the kind, gentle, loveable Morris.
All the characters have distinct, unique voices. They are authentic, and so well drawn, they can step off the page. The novel moves at a brisk pace. The dialog sizzles. The bond between Barry and Morris is deep-seated and enduring. They know one another so well they can almost read each other’s thoughts, finish each other’s sentences. Their conversations are crisp and entertaining and choke full of humor.
The novel explores a multitude of themes: intergenerational conflicts; love in its various manifestations; homophobia; gender socialization and identity; misogyny; aging; race relations; and masculinity. The themes are intricately woven together, finding expression in a cast of delightful, unforgettable characters all of whom rotate, gravitate, oscillate toward the hilarious, exasperating, unforgettable, and totally charming Barry, their axis mundi.
Highly recommended for its humor and brilliant character portrayals.
My book reviews are also available at www.tamaraaghajaffar.com
January 21, 2024
Li a sinopse e não me cativou mas nada nos prepara (exceto as boas opiniões) para esta personagem fora de série. Um vivaço com 74 anos que emigrou de Antígua quando casou nos anos 60 para Inglaterra e depois de cinquenta anos se questiona sobre uma mudança de vida ao assumir a sua homossexualidade. Bem escrito e com uma linguagem muito própria é uma espécie de sátira de costumes perante a perspectiva de Barry que tem um sentido crítico, irônico e sarcástico arrebatador na relação com tudo e todos, em que nem ele mesmo escapa a uma autocensura. Um livro que reflete sobre velhice, família, amor mas também racismo, homofobia e identidade sem nos estar a dar nenhuma lição. É um gozo com muito ritmo e que não se quer largar. Qualquer preconceito ou pré julgamento desaparece nas primeiras páginas. O desfecho tinha que ser à altura de Mr. Loverman.
May 28, 2020
The sign of a great book is when you mourn the loss of the characters (insert 'friends') when it's over. Oh how I miss Barry...and Morris...and Barry's far, far from perfect family.
Barry is a 74 year old Londoner from Antigua. He lives with his wife Carmel of 50 years and has two daughters and a grandson...he also has a secret lover of 60 years called Morris.
This is a family drama rooted in the breakdown of Barry's marriage and how/if/when he can extricate himself from it with minimal damage and live at last with his long term lover and childhood friend Morris.
Barry is funny and facetious and extremely likeable. It would be easy to see him as a downtrodden man forced to live a life he never wanted who has to deal with only contempt from his wife and daughters.
But this is only part of the story...Carmel has no idea her husband is gay and has been convinced for years that he is a philanderer and has spent years crying herself to sleep waiting for him to come home and trying to catch him out whilst her hostility grows inside her.
She has complained to her daughters and friends but believes wholeheartedly in the sanctity of marriage.
In this sad situation something eventually has to give and when Carmel's father dies and she returns to Antigua both herself and Barry vow that things will be different when she returns.
I really enjoyed hearing Barry's anecdotes and his view on his family situation. This is offset by offerings from Carmel that are not funny and bring the reality of their situation to the forefront (excellent contrast; Carmel's voice highlights her markedly different attitude/outlook).
The family is a complete mess where the secret Barry has carried throughout his life has created deep-rooted consequences that can never be mended.
Families are never perfect and are usually complex - no one person is the 'bad' guy here and yet everyone is; the story is just made up of varying shades of being a real person i.e. flawed.
My heart goes out to these characters - I loved hearing all about their lives, bad thoughts and all!
This book has everything; humour, sadness, happiness, intrigue, reality, culture, life choices, regrets, love and hate.
Highly recommend the audio book.
I will definitely be listening to this again and reading more from this author.
Barry is a 74 year old Londoner from Antigua. He lives with his wife Carmel of 50 years and has two daughters and a grandson...he also has a secret lover of 60 years called Morris.
This is a family drama rooted in the breakdown of Barry's marriage and how/if/when he can extricate himself from it with minimal damage and live at last with his long term lover and childhood friend Morris.
Barry is funny and facetious and extremely likeable. It would be easy to see him as a downtrodden man forced to live a life he never wanted who has to deal with only contempt from his wife and daughters.
But this is only part of the story...Carmel has no idea her husband is gay and has been convinced for years that he is a philanderer and has spent years crying herself to sleep waiting for him to come home and trying to catch him out whilst her hostility grows inside her.
She has complained to her daughters and friends but believes wholeheartedly in the sanctity of marriage.
In this sad situation something eventually has to give and when Carmel's father dies and she returns to Antigua both herself and Barry vow that things will be different when she returns.
I really enjoyed hearing Barry's anecdotes and his view on his family situation. This is offset by offerings from Carmel that are not funny and bring the reality of their situation to the forefront (excellent contrast; Carmel's voice highlights her markedly different attitude/outlook).
The family is a complete mess where the secret Barry has carried throughout his life has created deep-rooted consequences that can never be mended.
Families are never perfect and are usually complex - no one person is the 'bad' guy here and yet everyone is; the story is just made up of varying shades of being a real person i.e. flawed.
My heart goes out to these characters - I loved hearing all about their lives, bad thoughts and all!
This book has everything; humour, sadness, happiness, intrigue, reality, culture, life choices, regrets, love and hate.
Highly recommend the audio book.
I will definitely be listening to this again and reading more from this author.
June 14, 2020
“We all present carefully selected versions of we-selves to the world at large.”
Look at that handsome, dandy grandpa on the cover. Someone who dresses so classy probably is confident in everything he does, right? Sadly no, and after 50 years of being in the closet, Barry’s marriage is finally breaking down.
I had such a good time reading Mr. Loverman. Every person we meet is dislikeable – our main man Barry, his wife Carmel, his lover Morris, and Barry’s daughters – but still I was rooting for them. Through the duel-perspective, you learn how the love-triangle grew complex: Morris is the lover, but his own person first, Carmel is a bitter woman, but you get why, and Barry is a nice guy, but selfish and a coward.
As you can see, this Evaristo novel (just like Girl, Woman, Other), has its own writing style, but the Antigua accent added life to witty Barry. As we see him slowly reveal his love for Morris, he finds not only relief, but also the mess that his bad marriage has caused.
Still, this is a very uplifting, satisfying book: people can badly screw each other up, but you’re never too old to make changes and make things better.
A heartfelt, charming story, dealing with some heavy themes, but with a satisfying happy ending for all. Plus, seeing more old queer characters in love is always a win. 🏳️🌈
Look at that handsome, dandy grandpa on the cover. Someone who dresses so classy probably is confident in everything he does, right? Sadly no, and after 50 years of being in the closet, Barry’s marriage is finally breaking down.
I had such a good time reading Mr. Loverman. Every person we meet is dislikeable – our main man Barry, his wife Carmel, his lover Morris, and Barry’s daughters – but still I was rooting for them. Through the duel-perspective, you learn how the love-triangle grew complex: Morris is the lover, but his own person first, Carmel is a bitter woman, but you get why, and Barry is a nice guy, but selfish and a coward.
“God a-damn me the day I chose to enter this hellish so-called marriage instead of following my Morris-loving, sweet-loving, full-blooded, hot-blooded, pumping-rumping, throbbing organ of an uncontainable, unrestrainable, undetainable man-loving heart.”
As you can see, this Evaristo novel (just like Girl, Woman, Other), has its own writing style, but the Antigua accent added life to witty Barry. As we see him slowly reveal his love for Morris, he finds not only relief, but also the mess that his bad marriage has caused.
Still, this is a very uplifting, satisfying book: people can badly screw each other up, but you’re never too old to make changes and make things better.
A heartfelt, charming story, dealing with some heavy themes, but with a satisfying happy ending for all. Plus, seeing more old queer characters in love is always a win. 🏳️🌈
February 11, 2023
" Maldito seja eu no dia em que escolhi fazer esse maldito casamento dos infernos contigo, em vez de fazer o que mandava esse meu coração que ama o meu Morris, ama ele com todo o carinho, toda a força, todo o fogo, bate furioso por ele, pulsa, quase rebenta de não conseguir conter, domar, travar esse amor por outro homem, isso diz o meu coração. "
Mr. Loverman conta-nos a história de Barrington Walker de 74 anos que emigrou de Antigua para Inglaterra com a sua mulher Carmel na decada de 60.
Barry e Carmel são casados há 50 anos mas o que Carmel não sabe é que Barry mantém uma relação extra conjugal com Morris, seu amigo de infância e que aos 74 anos se prepara para lhe pedir pedir o divórcio para passar os anos que lhe restam com o amor da sua vida, mas esta decisão vai ter um forte impacto sobre a sua família e alterar a sua dinâmica.
Este livro é sobretudo sobre o amor e como nunca é tarde para o vivermos em toda a sua plenitude, é também sobre a identidade, sobre racismo e homofobia, mas também é um livro divertido, Barry é uma personagem divertida e por vezes irónica o que tornou esta leitura muito agradável.
Mr. Loverman conta-nos a história de Barrington Walker de 74 anos que emigrou de Antigua para Inglaterra com a sua mulher Carmel na decada de 60.
Barry e Carmel são casados há 50 anos mas o que Carmel não sabe é que Barry mantém uma relação extra conjugal com Morris, seu amigo de infância e que aos 74 anos se prepara para lhe pedir pedir o divórcio para passar os anos que lhe restam com o amor da sua vida, mas esta decisão vai ter um forte impacto sobre a sua família e alterar a sua dinâmica.
Este livro é sobretudo sobre o amor e como nunca é tarde para o vivermos em toda a sua plenitude, é também sobre a identidade, sobre racismo e homofobia, mas também é um livro divertido, Barry é uma personagem divertida e por vezes irónica o que tornou esta leitura muito agradável.
March 8, 2023
3.75/5
Um livro divertido e "leve" para ter entre as minhas leituras mais pesadonas, mas sem deixar de ser uma leitura importante.
Recomendo
Um livro divertido e "leve" para ter entre as minhas leituras mais pesadonas, mas sem deixar de ser uma leitura importante.
Recomendo
November 21, 2020
Relistened just for the sake of entertainment and I just wish Barry was an actual human being so I can hangout with him 👌🏿 Again this was a pure delight every section of this book beams with charismatic, fully realised characters who go through life challenges and grow organically... I would 10000% recommend the Audiobook, a masterpiece
One of the most charming tales I have ever read, so much charisma and life
One of the most charming tales I have ever read, so much charisma and life
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,568 reviews