All The Lonely People: From the Richard and Judy bestselling author of Half a World Away comes a warm, life-affirming story – the perfect read for these times

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Romanong Kurong from PhilippinesThe guitar introduction thrills me to no end. The low vocals—“this is for all the lonely people, thinking that life has passed them by”—never allowed me to know why I was literally lonely in those days after my mother died. Yes, me mind a great deal!" he would snap. "Now clear off!" And then he would slam the door shut in their faces.

I found the whole 'Loneliness Campaign' a bit far fetched with the huge hype and making them into celebrities. The story is also about mental health, being lonely, the power of friendships, human connection and human touch, as well as, the importance of persistence and learning how to never to give up on people. Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door", suggests that like most lonely people, she hid her unhappiness whenever she left the house and tried to appear happy like everybody else. "Window" and "Jar" suggests that her outward attempts to hide her unhappiness didn't work very well and was easy to see through, as both windows and jars are glass.

These discussion topics are reproduced from the All the Lonely People book club kit with permission of the publisher. The book club kit includes much more information including an interview with the author, an essay by the author on understanding history, reading lists, recipe and more.

do not focus on the things you cannot change – focus your time and energy into helping yourself feel better Gayle's book works for what it is, and that's a testimony to the author's charm and unfeigned sweetness—the reader can tell he cares a lot about Hubert, and his compassion is contagious. A little manipulative and a lot sentimental but sweet and charming enough that some readers won't mind. One in four UK adults (25%) say they have felt lonely some or all of the time over the last month, according to a survey of 6,000 UK adults 2 commissioned by the Mental Health Foundation.

The story in itself is fine mostly, but it annoyed me immensely that the main character, our beloved Hubert, kept saying 'me' instead of 'I'. Sorry, but me just found this to be an insult to his intelligence!! (See what I did there?!) Just because he's from Jamaica we have to keep driving the point home in the way he speaks! I know a couple of West Indian's and haven't heard them once say 'me' rather than I. His good friend Gus, also from Jamaica, mostly managed to say 'I' rather than 'me'.... most of the time! I just felt this was unnecessary and was also rather inconsistent. This book is extremely well written. Mike Gayle did a phenomenal job covering the various aspect of loneliness and the different ways that it can affect us. This book also touches on the value of friendship and inclusion and how important they are to every generation. All The Lonely People is an unforgettable story that made me laugh, and cry, and filled me with hope.