The first episode of the TV adaptation of Mr Loverman is preceded by the quotation: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” Those words, voiced by protagonist Barry, belong to writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin, from his 1962 New York Times essay, As Much Truth as One Can Bear.
The quotation alerts us to two important things about Barry in the TV drama – his vulnerability and his love of words. Barry avoids facing what he needs to change and distracts himself with his comfortable family home, his practised dapper style, ready eloquence and alcohol.
British-Nigerian author Bernardine Evaristo published Mr Loverman in 2013. This genuinely groundbreaking novel portrays Barry and Morris, in love since their youth, who emigrated from Antigua to London as part of the Windrush generation (1948-1973).
