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A review by thebobsphere
Mr. Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo
4.0
Throughout my reading of Mr Loverman, the Shabba Ranks song of the same name kept going round my head. Then later on in the book the track does crop up.
Anyway, after enjoying Girl, Woman, Other, I was curious to see if I’d like her other books. So I worked backwards and read Mr Loverman. If anyone thought that GWO was a fluke think again. If anything Mr Loverman is equally layered and complex.
The main protagonist is Barry. He’s in his mid 70’s and has been married to his wife, Carmel, for fifty years, he’s a father, grandfather and lives comfortably. The thing is that Barry loves his childhood friend Morris and hasn’t had the courage to tell Carmel that he is a homosexual and wants to live with Morris .To complicate the scenario, Carmel thinks that he’s having flings with other women. The question is will Barry sacrifice comfort for his true love?
Mr Loverman touches upon many pertinent issues, mainly the validity of marriage. Although most of the chapters are about Barry, we do get some glimpses from Carmel (these chapters are written in the one sentence poetry style which featured in GWO) and through her how they met and the beginning of the cracks in their marriage. Barry is carefree, his wife is devoutly religious. His two daughters are polar opposites, one is similar to Carmel, while the other is like Barry. The book questions on trying to love even when you don’t.
Another topic, which was also covered in GWO is the Windrush Generation and the British Jamaican experience. Barry, Carmel and Morris all emigrated to the U.K. and through both Barry and Carmel we readers see how their daughters adapted to UK living and subsequently their grandchild.
Mr Loverman may contain a lot of serious topics but it definitely is not a downer . Barry’s observations are quite funny and I did chuckle quite a bit. The use of patois also accentuates the humour. The book is lively and just crackles with snarky wit and uncomfortable situations.
My only regret with Mr Loverman is that I only heard of Bernardine Evaristo through the Booker longlisting but I will make up for the lost time and invest in more of her novels.
Anyway, after enjoying Girl, Woman, Other, I was curious to see if I’d like her other books. So I worked backwards and read Mr Loverman. If anyone thought that GWO was a fluke think again. If anything Mr Loverman is equally layered and complex.
The main protagonist is Barry. He’s in his mid 70’s and has been married to his wife, Carmel, for fifty years, he’s a father, grandfather and lives comfortably. The thing is that Barry loves his childhood friend Morris and hasn’t had the courage to tell Carmel that he is a homosexual and wants to live with Morris .To complicate the scenario, Carmel thinks that he’s having flings with other women. The question is will Barry sacrifice comfort for his true love?
Mr Loverman touches upon many pertinent issues, mainly the validity of marriage. Although most of the chapters are about Barry, we do get some glimpses from Carmel (these chapters are written in the one sentence poetry style which featured in GWO) and through her how they met and the beginning of the cracks in their marriage. Barry is carefree, his wife is devoutly religious. His two daughters are polar opposites, one is similar to Carmel, while the other is like Barry. The book questions on trying to love even when you don’t.
Another topic, which was also covered in GWO is the Windrush Generation and the British Jamaican experience. Barry, Carmel and Morris all emigrated to the U.K. and through both Barry and Carmel we readers see how their daughters adapted to UK living and subsequently their grandchild.
Mr Loverman may contain a lot of serious topics but it definitely is not a downer . Barry’s observations are quite funny and I did chuckle quite a bit. The use of patois also accentuates the humour. The book is lively and just crackles with snarky wit and uncomfortable situations.
My only regret with Mr Loverman is that I only heard of Bernardine Evaristo through the Booker longlisting but I will make up for the lost time and invest in more of her novels.