less highlights don't work with my terminal colors and I don't see how to change it

I prefer very light background colors, unlike the default xterm's black.

Some time ago, less(1) changed its way of doing highlights (such as when displaying man pages) so that they are pure white. This makes them much harder, rather than the intended easier to read.

This should be under user control, and the documentation should give a clue, or perhaps just a better clue. As it is I cannot see how to make less(1) work well with my gnome-terminal.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: less 481-2.1ubuntu0.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-57.78-generic 4.4.35
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-57-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.4
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: XFCE
Date: Mon Mar 27 07:14:10 2017
InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-01-05 (81 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 16.04.1 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20160719)
SourcePackage: less
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)