Mr. Loverman

Written by Bernardine Evaristo

Narrated by Robin Miles and Ron Butler

Barrington Jedidiah Walker is seventy-four and leads a
double life. Born and bred in Antigua, he’s lived in Hackney, London, for
years. A flamboyant character with a fondness for William Shakespeare, Barrington
is a husband, father, grandfather-and also secretly gay.

His deeply religious and disappointed wife, Carmel, thinks
he sleeps with other women. When their marriage goes into meltdown, Barrington
wants to divorce Carmel and live with Morris, but after a lifetime of fear and
deception, will he manage to break away?

With an abundance of laugh-out-loud humor and wit, Mr. Loverman explodes cultural myths and
shows the extent of what can happen when people fear the consequences of being
true to themselves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: Nov 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781481503457

Bernardine Evaristo

Bernardine Evaristo is the 2019 winner of the Booker Prize for Girl, Woman, Other, and the author of seven other books that explore aspects of the African diaspora. Her writing spans the genres of verse fiction, short fiction, poetry, essays, literary criticism, journalism, and radio and theater drama. Evaristo is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University, London, and Vice President of the Royal Society of Literature, and was named an OBE in 2020. She lives in London with her husband. @BernardineEvari www.bevaristo.com

Reviews for Mr. Loverman

[alexrichman_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Brokeback Mountain via Windrush. That’s pretty much it. The main character gets off far too lightly - and I’m mildly worried by the thought I was supposed to actually like him.

[sianpr · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderfully poignant novel about Barry, a mid-70s Afro-Caribbean male, and his in the closet life, with Morris, his lover of 60+ years, and his disfunctional marriage with Carmel. Both Barry and Carmel draw you into their lives and both are told with humour and pathos. All works out in the end. Uplifting and joyful

[gagvlibrary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Strong characters, especially the main narrator, are made more vibrant by the way the author uses dialect. To illustrate, the author is perfectly able to use sesquipedalian Queen's English when it suits his purposes. He uses Antiguan forms when speaking with compatriots and family, but it is not represented as an illegible pidgin. The bulk of the narration is somewhere in between, an informal voice well-suited to storytelling. He is bright, allowing for clever turns of phrase, metaphor, and associations. It's an entertaining read that, in the best tradition of novels, offers a glimpse into a different perspective.

[arlenadean · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Title: Mr. LovermanAuthor: Bernadine EvaristoPublisher: Akashic BooksReviewed By: Arlena DeanRating: 5Review:"Mr. Loverman" by Bernadine Evaristo was a delightful fiction love read. I found that the author's narrators were splendid giving you such a touching and well written story that I found hard to put down until the very end. The cast of characters were very humorous (some) as well memorable, defined and portrayed. The area of this place in Hackney, London seemed like a place that was describe so very well making you think you were there while you are reading the novel. Be ready for a read where you will find Mr. Loverman involved in his secrecy of what it really meant for him to be free where we find he lives a double life. Who would have thought at a man in his seventies, who had been married over fifty years would have this huge secret that would come out the way it did? And just what was that secret? As I was reading thorough this novel I was kept wondering wow, how well this author Ms. Evaristo was putting this out to the reader and doing a good job at it. I couldn't stop reading just turning the pages to see what was coming next for Mr. Loverman. Yes, it was somewhat heartbreaking read with a 'full bodied riff on sex, secrecy and family' and yet we will find from the read when "Mr. Loverman explodes cultural myths and shows what can happen when people fear the consequences of being true to themselves." I felt that "Mr. Loverman" was a good read and all I can do now is recommend for you to pick up "Mr. Loverman" and read it for yourself to see what all that has and is going on with this main character.

[cherilove · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I like to experience actions or communities that I otherwise wouldn't, through reading, and I hit three with this one: gay guys, Caribbean immigrants, and another London neighborhood. The protagonist was by NO means without faults, but I still found him charming. His wife's faults were on display earlier in the book, but her experience was also well explored.

[deathsmistress · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received Mr. Loverman as a part of the Early Reviewers program.This book was actually quite charming. I wasn't expecting much but I found myself wanting to read more and more, wanting to know all about the main character's life and problems. Some of the wording or the way things were written or said by characters had me going back and rereading a few times but, honestly, it added to the charm. I enjoyed learning about the main characters life and those around him. Some pretty top shelf stuff here, i'd recommend it for sure.

[isolablue · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Congratulations, Bernardine Evaristo. Hats off to an artist of the written word who can cross gender, nationality, and age lines to portray a most convincing character. In MR. LOVERMAN, Evaristo entertains her readers with a close-up look at Barrington Walker, a closeted gay immigrant from Antigua, West Indies, living in England with his wife of many years. Also in Mr. Walker's life is his friend and lover, Morris; they have been bonded since boyhood, both emigrating from Antigua, marrying women, and raising families all while maintaining a close friendship and discreet love affair. MR. LOVERMAN is the story of a short period in Mr. Walker's life as a senior citizen (both he and Morris are in their 70s) during which he struggles with the idea of divorcing his wife, coming out, and possibly living his remaining years with his male love. But even in contemporary England doing any of those activities would be difficult for a West Indian gentleman of his generation. And this is what Evaristo does so well: here she is, an English female writer on the younger side writing with incredible feeling, real knowledge, empathy, and understanding of what it means to be West Indian, male, a senior citizen, and closeted gay. How does she accomplish this? It can only be noted that REAL writers - and Evaristo is one - have the ability to move themselves into the bodies, souls, and minds of others who are unlike them and somehow inhabit their spheres. MR. LOVERMAN is a poignant example of how a writer can do this while moving mountains - and moving us, her readers.One can imagine MR. LOVERMAN as a stage play. There is a great deal of conversation in this book, something that would not ordinarily call for a four or five-star rating. But somehow Evaristo's chatty approach to her characters feels right. She has obviously observed enough West Indian immigrant culture to have a keen ear for dialect and a sharp eye for amusing - but not overdone - stereotypes of West Indian immigrant behavior. At times her characters seem to have stepped right out of a 1990s' TV episode of "In Living Color." She writes humor well, but she does human emotion and thought even better.MR. LOVERMAN should receive special attention and notice for its author. Bernardine Evaristo has brought Mr. Barrington Walker into all of our lives, truly one of the more memorable characters in modern fiction.

[rjlouise · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'll admit: I did not like this book at first blush. I finished the book and couldn't figure out why a quick, engaging, thought-provoking novel left me cold. When I finally figured it out, I realized I did like the book, just not in the way I wanted to, but rather in a better way (which is why it made me think).The main character, Barry, is the villain of the story. Let me be clear: he is not A villain. Rather he's the villain of the story. He married a woman he did not love to cover up his gay affair, he took her away from her home by moving to a different country, he had two kids with her that he by turns hyper-criticized/spoiled rotten, he didn't leave his wife when the children were grown, he wasn't careful about hiding his affair from his kids (so they grew up in a house of a lot of secrets), and he treated his lover, Morris, abominably for many years. I sympathize with Barry - he had a lot of difficult decisions to make - but he is absolutely the villain of the story. He's created a broken house around himself all because it was more comfortable. He is selfish and sometimes cruel.That all being said, the writing was excellent. Dialectal differences between characters, accents portrayed in spelling, even the different styles of speaking from the two narrators, were all extremely well executed. The character development, while Barry changes little (in true villain form), was well done for all the others, and it was an incredibly interesting experience to experience the story from the villain's point of view. (To be fair, some people may call Barry an anti-hero, but I don't think he fits that mold as well.) The past was told mainly in the wife's voice and I really appreciated getting to see her points of view. They were a necessary balance to Barry's very selfish, fault-casting personality.There are also some very interesting discussions in the books about feminism, religion, race, and the immigrant experience. Barry, Morris, and their wives were born, educated, and raised in Antigua, then moved to England. This entire book is about discovering how to live the life YOU want, and these discussions are secondary to Barry's secret sexuality, but they are VERY much a part of what both of the families have to deal with in a culture not their own and not particularly welcoming. Barry is flawed and ANNOYING. He's lied to everyone (including himself, convincing himself that it's not an affair if he's not sleeping with other women) his entire life. He has a lot of internalized/generational sexism and homophobia. He's a pretty terrible parent. He's so imperfect. But this story wasn't ever meant to be about perfection or redemption, so far as I can tell. It was about a series of lives long lived in the shadows and how each person needed to find their way out. I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone, but I did very much enjoy it myself.B+ (excellent writing in style and execution, interesting narrator choices; main character difficult to appreciate/relate to)

[burritapal · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

We get married most often when we don't yet know how to judge people; it's our hormones calling to each other. So, often it ends badly, especially if there are offspring. Domestic violence, traumatized children, yea, pain lasting a lifetime.
LGBTQIA had a bigger problem in the past with relationships because of prejudice and discrimination against them, so I can hardly blame them for wanting to have a "cover," a het marriage or relationship. It's complicated further by humans who buy the religion scam: "the bible forbids it," isn't it?
This is what happens in this book that takes place in Antigua and London. Barry married a young woman who he can never love, and she condemns herself to a lifetime of not being loved, because she refuses to divorce him.

[catscritch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this story, the people, the language, the flow. I can’t find one fault. The moment I started reading, I knew I was in for a new experience. The moment I finished, I knew I would miss all the wonderful new characters I’d come to know.I never faltered between the two distinct voices and points of view of the “verbious” Barry and the long suffering Carmel. Ms. Evaristo found a stylistic solution to what is often (in lesser books) a confusing jumping from first-person attitudes with a poetic flow for Carmel and a nearly jet-fueled jazz blast from Barry. Morris needs no one to speak for him as he is all but a very welcome omnipresence in this tale of a lovely “old married couple.” From beginning to end, I found myself laughing out loud at the most unexpected times and at others, my heart broke into frustrated pieces over this family’s life with fear, anger, bitter divides and ever lasting love. Some of the paragraphs dropped me in my tracks and I found myself reading them over and over again to get the full measure and flavor of a distinctly Antiguan accent and world view. This novel is a gem of sparkling witticisms that I will not soon forget.

[seeword · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Meet Barrington Walker, a seventy-five year old successful property owner and landlord, married for over fifty years, father, grandfather, and closet gay. An immigrant to London from Antigua, he is a colorful figure in 50s style suits and his charming command of the Queen’s English. His relationship with his lover Morris (also an immigrant from Antigua) predates his marriage. A deplorable fellow, you say? Well, yes, he is, but Bernadine Evaristo presents Barry and his family and Morris is such a way that you root for them and hope that they somehow manage to work things out in the end. There is empathy and humor in this delightful tale. You like this guy in spite of yourself.