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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The findings complement academic research which uses standardised questionnaires to measure loneliness. One drawn up at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has 20 statements, such as “I have nobody to talk to”, and “I find myself waiting for people to call or write”. Responses are marked based on the extent to which people agree. Respondents with tallies above a threshold are classed as lonely. That's what this is about. Walking down the halls, you see all kinds of people, and everyone is there with a purpose. But you, just walking to class, are the lonliest, like a fish bowl, you are only a spektator. While the public understands that life events, circumstances and our wider community can all leave us at risk of loneliness, they tend to overlook groups of people who may be ‘lonely in a crowd’ To better understand what the public thinks about loneliness, we surveyed a nationally representative group of 6000 adults in February and March 2022. We asked about their experiences and perceptions of loneliness. In the last couple of years public awareness of loneliness and the impact that being persistently lonely can have on well-being and quality of life has grown with campaigns such as Age UK’s No One Should Have No One, the work of the Jo Cox Commission and the Government’s appointment of a Minister for Loneliness. For further information, please visit here.

This book is filled with happy heartwarming moments but also sad heartbreaking moments that had me sobbing. It also had some unexpected moments which took me by surprise and made the reading experience that much better. 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.In the second timeline, Hubert is in his eighties. His wife has been gone for over a decade, and Hubert has cut himself off from the living. I love the characters in this book. Hubert immigrated to England from Jamaica as a young man. The racism that he faced was eye-opening. When he meets Joyce and they fall in love, they both went through a lot because of the reaction to their interracial relationship. Hubert goes through a lot of really difficult things over the course of his life and there were times my heart broke from him. The twist took me completely by surprise which was a big point in this book’s favor.

Stereotypes about who feels lonely can make it harder for people to recognise their own loneliness and risk leaving gaps in society’s responses to itI would highly recommend this book to others. I found this to be a wonderful story about the life of a man with an interesting story to tell. I definitely plan to read more of this author’s work in the future.

There are two distinct and alternating timelines in this story: "Then" - beginning in 1958 and "Now" - current time. Both timelines do meld together by the end of the story and both timelines are told in a third person narrative which feels right for this book. This means, first, screening its 150,000 patients for loneliness. Those at risk are asked if they want to enroll in a “Togetherness Programme”. This involves phone calls from staff called “connectors” who help with transport to events and ideas for socialising. Patients are coaxed to visit clinics, even when not urgently ill, to play games, attend a “seniors’ gym” and just chat. Eleanor Rigby lives in a pretend world that she made for herself because she is so lonely and unknown--she goes into a church building after a stranger's wedding is over and grabs the rice to throw, pretending she's getting married. When she goes home, she sits by the window and smiles out, either hoping to grab someone's attention or pretending she has ("Who is it for?"). You might find it hard to explain to people why you feel this way, but talking to someone could help you find a solution. As a bilingual person I help many Hispanic immigrants in my community with translations at doctor's offices and at their children's parent teacher conferences. The immigrants I help have a very limited knowledge of English. Of course not... - viquig

Are there things non-immigrants can be aware of or do today to help immigrants transition to life in a new country? This story is brimming and tipping over with wonderful characters. All are likable and each one adds a different dynamic to the mix. What a diverse group indeed. Hubert is my fave, of course! I just want to hug this man for all his wonderfulness! He's officially at the top of my list for "Best Character in 2021 Reads"!

Almost 4 in 10 people (39%) said feelings of loneliness have led them to experience low mood (or sadness) With the help of a young single mother named Ashleigh and her daughter, Hubert will start to realize he’s not the only lonely person out there, and that loneliness isn’t anything to be ashamed of. But he’ll also need to come to terms with the things that led him to seek isolation, and figure out if it’s too late for him to start again. I found the whole 'Loneliness Campaign' a bit far fetched with the huge hype and making them into celebrities. For Hubert, it was the death of his daughter that led him to a life of loneliness. Who in your life inspires you to live life to the fullest? Ben Onwukwe did an amazing job with this book. After listening to this book, I couldn’t imagine experiencing this book in any other way. I really felt like he brought Hubert to life. I loved the accents and the different voices that he used in narrating this story. I thought that he had a very pleasant voice and was able to bring out the emotion in the story.Hubert Bird lives a lonely and isolated life, has for years, but you couldn’t tell that from the sunny updates he provides his daughter Rose in their weekly phone calls. He lives in the London borough of Bromley and she’s a professor with a wonderful career in Melbourne, Australia. He even maintains a notebook to keep up with his lies about his busy life full of friends and activities. But now with Rose’s planned visit in six weeks, Hubert has to somehow create the life he’s sold to his daughter to make certain she doesn’t feel the need to uproot her life and return home to take care of him. Gayle weaves a tale which touches on many modern issues – racism, drug abuse, crime, mental health – which makes it feel relevant to our times. His characters are not perfect and neither are their lives, which gives makes them easy to relate to. There is also a poignant twist to the tale which I didn’t see coming, which highlights how people can build a fantasy life when their own is too painful to cope with. The topic of "loneliness" is a key component in this story. The author does an amazing job of covering the many different aspects of this topic, how it can impact many us at different times in our lives and in so many different ways. I skim-read some of this book and found it a bit tedious and not particularly good writing, not descriptive and a little shallow.