Mr Loverman author wanted to ‘break the myth’ of heterosexual Windrush generation
Bernardine Evaristo wrote Mr Loverman to ‘break the myth’ that all members of the Windrush generation are heterosexual. (Getty/BBC)
Author Bernardine Evaristo, whose 2013 novel Mr Loverman has been adapted into a new queer drama, says she wrote the book to “break the myth” that members of the Windrush generation are all heterosexual.
Speaking to PinkNews and other media, Evaristo, the first Black woman to win the Booker Prize, for her novel Girl, Woman, Other, said she originally wrote Mr Loverman because a story like it had yet to be told.
The eight-part BBC dramatisation follows the plot of the original novel fairly faithfully. It stars The Walking Dead’s Lennie James as Barrington “Barry” Walker, a popular Hackney local from Antigua with a big personality, and an even bigger secret.
While he’s been married to his wife Carmel (Lost Boys & Fairies star Sharon D Clarke) for 50 years, he’s been in love – and having an affair – with best friend Morris De La Roux, played by Ariyon Bakare, seen in His Dark Materials, for even longer.
Now, approaching his 75th birthday, Barry is facing a huge decision: come out to his wife and two adult children or continue leading a double life.
Mr Loverman, with its focus on older, queer love between two members of the Windrush generation, is revolutionary TV.
“I’m very interested in writing those stories that aren’t out there, stories that have been marginalised”, Evaristo explained at a pre-launch BAFTA screening. “We’re all very aware now in this country about the Windrush generation, and it’s always been presented as heterosexual.”
The Windrush generation refers to people from Commonwealth countries who migrated to Britain between 1948 and 1973, after being welcomed to help rebuild the country, fill labour roles and stimulate the economy in the wake of World War II.
But despite thousands of people being invited to live in the UK by the government, in 2018 it was revealed that officials had not properly recorded the details of those given the permanent right to live and work in Britain. As a result, many were mistreated by the state, including being threatened with deportation, with at least 164 people actually being wrongly removed from the country.
Other members of the Windrush generation were unable to access housing, healthcare or employment. And there have been limited cultural depictions of LGBTQ+ people affected by the scandal.
“I was also very aware that in the Caribbean, [people] like Barry had grown up under homophobic laws,” Evaristo continued.
“It was illegal to be homosexual in Antigua until 2022. And also in this country until 1967. Even then, it was kind of qualified. So, it just made sense to me to write this kind of story.
“I felt, as a writer, I can write any story I like but it has to work and people will give you feedback if it doesn’t work. It felt like [the] time to break the myth of the heterosexuality of the Windrush generation, which is how it’s been portrayed since the 40s.”
In 2020, Evaristo said she’d found the feminist movement of the 80s “quite exclusionary” of Black women.
“I had a period of about 10 years where I lived as a lesbian, and that was my identity,” she told Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. “I used to go on lesbian marches and go clubbing and I had lots of relationships.
“I was very much part of this counter-cultural, Black feminist, or Black womanist, community, where we were nurturing [one another], as well as fighting and falling out, of course.”
Evaristo has been married to fellow writer David Shannon since 2006.
The first two episodes of Mr Loverman will air at 9pm on BBC One on Monday (14 October), with a weekly double bill after that. All episodes will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Monday.
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