Hiding in the Front Room | Colin Grant
The front room was the prime signifier of achievement for the pioneering West Indian migrants to the UK in the 1950s and 1960s, now known as the Windrush generation. A version of the Victorian parlor, the pristine front room was emblematic of the quest for respectability, with a settee whose protective transparent plastic covering was never shed, crocheted doilies adorning every item of furniture, and a glass, gold-trimmed drinks cabinet in the shape of a ship’s bow. The dapper seventy-four-year-old Barrington Jedidiah Walker (Lennie James) is the embodiment of the spirit of the West Indian front room in Mr Loverman, the BBC TV series adapted from Bernardine Evaristo’s novel of the same name. He is rarely seen without a fedora and often wears a starched shirt with tie and clip; the most important word in his lexicon is “respect.” Barrington and the Walker family’s code is of bella figura and informs how they present themselves to the world. With its gorgeous palette of Caribbean pastel pinks, purples, browns, yellows, and blues, the design of the …
