All The Lonely People

Shortlisted for the British Book Awards Book of the Year: Pageturners. The 2021 recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association. 'Hubert Bird stole my heart' Beth O'Leary, author of The Flat-Share and The Switch 'Lovely, emotional, uplifting' Libby Page, author of The Lido 'A heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting look at isolation' Guardian Hubert Bird is not alone in being alone. In phone calls to his daughter in Australia, widower Hubert Bird paints a picture of the perfect retirement, packed with fun and friendship. But Hubert Bird is lying. Something has made him turn his back on people, and he hardly sees a soul. So when his daughter announces she's coming to visit, Hubert faces a race against time: to make his real life resemble his fake life before he's found out. Along the way Hubert renews a cherished friendship, is given a second chance at love and even joins an audacious community scheme. Life is starting to happen to Hubert Bird. But with the secret of his earlier isolation lurking in the shadows, is he destined to always be one of the lonely people? Readers love All The Lonely People: 'Best book of 2021 so far' ----- 'I absolutely adored every page' ----- 'Wonderful, moving, emotional and very thought provoking' ----- 'An emotional journey' ----- 'A beautiful book' -----

MIKE GAYLE was born and raised in Birmingham. After graduating from Salford University with a degree in Sociology, he moved to London to pursue a career in journalism and worked as a features editor and agony uncle. He has written for a variety of publications including The Sunday Times, the Guardian and Cosmopolitan. Mike became a full-time novelist in 1997 following the publication of his Sunday Times top ten bestseller My Legendary Girlfriend, which was hailed by the Independent as 'full of belly laughs and painfully acute observations', and by The Times as 'a funny, frank account of a hopeless romantic'. Since then he has written eighteen novels, including The Man I Think I Know, selected as a World Book Night title, and Half A World Away, selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club. His books have been translated into more than thirty languages. In 2021, Mike was the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association. He lives in Birmingham with his wife, kids and greyhound. You can find him online at mikegayle.co.uk and on Twitter @mikegayle.