Humour is a very individual thing – so some of us had found Mr Loverman very funny, whilst others were not so taken with it. I just loved the voice of Barrington … although I wasn’t so enamoured of his actions! The book has some very serious underlying themes: prejudice and violence against homosexuality resulting in the living of life behind a smokescreen of deceptions – some small and some huge; and the damage that does to others who are deceived.
The book is told from two points of view – Barrington in the present, and Carmel, his long suffering wife. We see her story as she looks back over her life – the hopes she had as a young bride, and then the disappointment, frustration and fury about the failure of her marriage to bring the intimacy and companionship she had expected.
Other themes include the experience of settlers from the Caribbean coming to this country, and the impact skin colour has on life chances. Maxine, his rather flighty daughter, wants to make a splash in the fashion world – and one wonders how much her skin colour is holding her back.
Evaristo doesn’t always stick with conventional punctuation – and some found this annoying. She plays with double meanings, and incorporates lots of quotes – from Shakespeare, song lyrics and so on – Barry is very well read!
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