The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen
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Narrated by:
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Derek Jacobi
About this listen
For fans of A Man Called Ove comes a funny, big-hearted tale about an old man who is young at heart.
Hendrik Groen may be old, but he is far from dead and isn't planning to be buried any time soon. Granted, his daily strolls are getting shorter because his legs are no longer willing, and he has to visit his doctor more than he'd like. Technically speaking he is...elderly. But surely there is more to life at his age than weak tea and potted geraniums?
Hendrik sets out to write an exposé: a year in the life of his care home in Amsterdam, revealing all its ups and downs—not least his new endeavor, the anarchic Old-but-Not-Dead Club. And when Eefje moves in—the woman Hendrik has always longed for—he polishes his shoes (and his teeth), grooms what's left of his hair, and attempts to make something of the life he has left, with hilarious, tender, and devastating consequences.
The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen will not only delight older listeners with its wit and relevance but charm and inspire those who have years to go before their own expiry dates.
©2017 Hester Velmans (P)2017 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Amusing [and] wickedly accurate...Reading The Secret Diary, I was constantly put in mind of Ken Kesey's madhouse tale One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, another comi-tragedy concerning the tyranny of institutions of the unwanted. Enjoy Groen's light touch but do not be fooled by it....The Secret Diary is a handbook of resistance for our time."—The Express (UK)
"Funny and frank—a story with a great deal of heart."—Graeme Simsion, New York Times bestselling author of The Rosie Project
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Journalist, presenter, broadcaster, husband, father, vigorous all-rounder – Alan Partridge – a man with a fascinating past and an amazing future. Gregarious and popular, yet Alan’s never happier than when relaxing in his own five-bedroom, south-built house with three acres of land and access to a private stream. But who is this mysterious enigma? Alan Gordon Partridge is the best – and best-loved – radio presenter in the region. Born into a changing world of rationing, Teddy Boys, apes in space and the launch of ITV, Alan’s broadcasting career began as chief DJ of Radio Smile....
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An Anglican giant among pygmies
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Mrs Queen Takes the Train
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An absolute delight of a debut novel by William Kuhn - author of Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books - Mrs Queen Takes the Train wittily imagines the kerfuffle that transpires when a bored Queen Elizabeth strolls out of the palace in search of a little fun, leaving behind a desperate team of courtiers who must find the missing Windsor before a national scandal erupts.
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Can't believe how much I loved this story
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The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4
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Meet Adrian Mole, a hapless teenager providing an unabashed, pimples-and-all glimpse into adolescent life. Writing candidly about his parents' marital troubles, the dog, his life as a tortured poet and 'misunderstood intellectual', Adrian's painfully honest diary is still hilarious and compelling thirty years after it first appeared.
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Please Don't Eat the Daisies
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This collection of essays observes the perils of motherhood, wifehood, selfhood, and other assorted challenges. Since its publication in 1957, it has sold millions of copies and has been adapted into a Broadway play, a film, a TV series, and now an audiobook. Jean Kerr's parodies of the clichéd 1950s prescription for glamorous or maternal feminine behavior still resonate today as we enter the 21st century.
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Poor narration of smart, dry, funny essays
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Jimm Juree was a crime reporter for the Chiang Mai Daily Mail with a somewhat eccentric family. When she is forced to follow her family to a rural village on the coast of Southern Thailand, she’s convinced her career—maybe her life—is over. So when a van containing the skeletal remains of two hippies is inexplicably unearthed in a local farmer’s field, Jimm is thrilled. Shortly thereafter an abbot at a local Buddhist temple is viciously murdered.
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delighted...
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Talking It Over
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Introducing Stuart, Gillian and Oliver. One by one they take their turn to speak straight out to the camera - and give their side of a contemporary love triangle. What begins as a comedy of misunderstanding slowly darkens and deepens into a compelling exploration of the quagmires of the heart.
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The Narrative Gimmick Works
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Walter has a rubbish job, so has Margaret. But when they meet through a dating agency, neither is who they seem. Margaret's married for a start, and Walter's encounter with her husband, Billy, leaves him black and blue. Billy's a dodgy accountant for politician and racketeer Pink Harrison, who is about to come unstuck.
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PICK ME PLEASE PICK ME WE'LL HAVE LOTS OF FUN
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Bettyville
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When George Hodgman leaves Manhattan for his hometown of Paris, Missouri, he finds himself - an unlikely caretaker and near-lethal cook - in a head-on collision with his aging mother, Betty, a woman of wit and will. Will George lure her into assisted living? When hell freezes over. He can't bring himself to force her from the home both treasure - the place where his father's voice lingers, the scene of shared jokes, skirmishes, and, behind the dusty antiques, a rarely acknowledged conflict...
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Title Should Be Georgeville-It's All About George
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Weekend Warriors
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On the surface, these seven women are as different as can be - but each has had her share of bad luck, from cheating husbands to sexist colleagues to a legal system that often doesn't do its job. Now, drawn together by tragedy, they're forging a bond that will help them right the wrongs committed against them and discover an inner strength they didn't know they had. The Sisterhood is learning that when bad things happen, you can roll over and play dead...or you can get up fighting...
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Weekend Warriors
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A Three Dog Life: A Memoir
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When Abigail Thomas’s husband, Rich, was hit by a car, his brain shattered. Subject to rages, terrors, and hallucinations, he must live the rest of his life in an institution. He has no memory of what he did the hour, the day, the year before. This tragedy is the ground on which Abigail had to build a new life. How she built that life is a story of great courage and great change, of moving to a small country town, of a new family composed of three dogs, knitting, and friendship, of facing down guilt and discovering gratitude.
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Eloquent & Honest
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The Woman Who Stole My Life
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In her own words, Stella Sweeney is just "an ordinary woman living an ordinary life with her husband and two teenage kids", working for her sister in their neighborhood beauty salon. Then one day she is struck by a serious illness that lands her in the hospital for months.
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First Part? Good. Second Part? Ugh!
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Goodnight from London
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In the summer of 1940, ambitious young American journalist Ruby Sutton gets her big break: the chance to report on the European war as a staff writer for Picture Weekly newsmagazine in London. She jumps at the chance, for it's an opportunity not only to prove herself, but also to start fresh in a city and country that know nothing of her humble origins. But life in besieged Britain tests Ruby in ways she never imagined.
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Light story
- By Bev Holdgate on 08-10-17
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What listeners say about The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Gotta Tellya
- 12-31-18
Great story, uneven volume somewhat detracting.
I read a few reviews commenting that this book is not as good as A Man Called Ove. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen is nothing like the first book, so comparisons are unfair. The Ove book is related in the third person, as by an outside narrator. The Secret Diary is told in first person, in (obviously) diary form, and is equally excellent. In Ove, we watch the personal evolution of a sad old man, set in his ways and solitary by nature, into a community minded, open hearted and more open minded man—happier, with new purpose. In The Secret Diary, Hendrik is already open minded and kind. His personal progress is of a different sort but is valuable and interesting nonetheless. I liked both books very much. But with The Secret Diary’s Audible version, there is one problem. I love Derek Jacobi as an actor. His narration was one of the draws that prompted me to buy the audio version. Unfortunately, though Jacobi’s interpretation of Hendrik is perfect, charming and fun, his lack of volume control hurt my ears. Jacobi must have at times had his mouth right up against the microphone, and at other times must have leaned far away from it. Or else he was prone to let his voice drift into quiet mode and then suddenly ramp it up by a hundred decibles. I wonder if the sound engineer was paying attention during this recording. The wide variations in volume aren’t so hard to take if the story is being listened to over speakers in a room. But over earbuds (which I use while walking outdoors) the sudden surges in volume were painful. I needed to manually adjust the volume control of my earbuds far too frequently. I gave the story itself five stars, but had to cut a star off the narration and the overall rating, only because of the volume fluctuations. I still highly recommend this book, with the caveat that buyers with sensitive ears should be prepared for the sharp and sudden changes in the narrator’s volume.
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121 people found this helpful
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- chris
- 05-26-20
Many a truth said in jest
There are many novels out recently about old people going on quests of self discovery, and I expected this to be just one more. A book that is charming but forgettable, something you grab when it is on sale but wouldn't waste a credit on. But I was so wrong.
Hendrik writes a daily diary about life in a retirement home and his observations are laugh out loud funny. I have worked in a long term care home for the last 12 years. The way he describes the routines of the home, the idiosyncrasies of the residents living there, the patronizing benign neglect of the staff, and the daily conversations, in my experience are all accurate, though perhaps exaggerated a little for comic affect. But underlying this daily narrative are deeper issues. Henrik talks about newspaper articles about seniors and eldercare, and describes so well the attitudinal and physical barriers the elderly face. But most poignantly, he talks about how he and his small group of friends struggle to continue living their lives with dignity as their health declines.
Finally , I must acknowledge the amazing job Derek Jacoby did as the narrator. His caustic and slightly befuddled British accent was the perfect fit for this story. He was able to portray the deep emotion of the story as well as he portrayed the novel's humour.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Isaak
- 01-13-20
The grown-up side of living a long life.
This book has such a wide range of reviews that I had to listen to it. It was different than my usual stories; I'm not usually one for geriatric fiction but I must admit that this book helped me understand my aging parents and grandparents much better. I get why many ppl didn't like it; it really is a reminder that for many of us when we are older there will be days/years when we don't remember suddenly how to turn on the TV, that our toast was left too long in the toaster and that sadly instead of weddings and birthday parties, we will be attending funerals. But there were some good bouts of fun for the author. For instance he helped solve the mystery of the dead community fish (spoiler alert: it was him), obtaining the bylaws for what it is and isn't allowed in the retirement home, and how to setup an iPod. Really, it was quite an entertaining and nonthinking read that I enjoyed. Much better than a lot of YA I find myself purchasing lately. This book is for the grown-up in me.
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1 person found this helpful
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- DC
- 10-29-19
Wonderful!!
wonderful story, wonderfully narrated. thoroughly enjoyed every minute. humerous, touching, real. definitely recommend this book.
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- Cheryl C
- 09-27-19
Audio
I enjoyed the book and the narration. I laughed out loud and was brought to tears. However I think I missed half the book due to the loud start to most new sentences down to a whisper.
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- Bell
- 11-05-19
One Day I will Be Old So Look Out World
One day I might need to go t a nursing home and I hope that I have some people around me that still know how to take life one day at a time. The characters in this books are like people I know in my everyday life and this just makes me laugh even more. Have you hugged a Baby Boomer today. Go out and do it because you might be the one who needs a hug or a kick in the pants.
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- Scott Oakley, CMHE, NATE
- 03-13-20
Sweet, poignant, funny
This is a wonderful story of a man who can see the funny side of life while not losing site of what's real. A good story for anyone who's had an elderly loved one or who might be getting there themselves. I loved this book.
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- Cindy F
- 11-24-20
delightful!!!
Loved this book from the first chapter! Witty, charming and touching. I had a hard time understanding the accent of the speaker so I've bought the actual book so I can catch the things I missed. I also bought the sequel.
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- Andy Bailey
- 02-14-20
Slow in the beginning, but worth the read.
The first third of the book I wasn’t convinced I would come to feel deeply connected to the main character. The trials of nursing home residents aren’t always more than just mildly entertaining. However, after learning Hendrik’ a family situation and his continued pep for life, I found myself deeply admiring him and genuinely sad when the diary ended.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-01-19
Performance is stellar
This story is endearing and hysterical. I absolutely loved the imaginative personality that came through. The performance by Derek Jacobi was remarkable. His voice is perfection for this story. The different characters he brought to life with just his voice were as clear as if they were standing in front of me.
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