Hendrik Groen

Hester Velmans

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The new secret diary of Hendrik Groen

On the Bright Side

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old

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'A great deal of heart' Graeme Simsion 'Praised for its wit' BBC Radio 4 Front Row 'When I'm an old man, I want to be Hendrik Groen' John Boyne 'I laughed until I cried' David Suchet 'Thoughtful, anxious and gruff... Laced with humour' Mail on Sunday 'Amusing [and] wickedly accurate' Sunday Express

A story with a great deal of heart, it pulled me in with its self-deprecating humour, finely drawn characters and important themes. Anyone who hopes to grow old with dignity will have much to reflect on

Graeme Simsion, author of international phenomenon

Thoughtful, anxious and gruff... Laced with humour

Full of off-beat charm and quirky characters

A joy to read, as much concerned with friendship and dignity as it is with the debilitating effects of aging ... An entertaining and uplifting story of a man in the winter of his days, stoic in the face of bureaucratic nonsense and an unabashed need to wear a nappy. Imagined or not, this is the diary of someone who wants nothing more than to be allowed see out his days with dignity and respect. It's not too much to ask, really, is it?

Amusing [and] wickedly accurate ... I was constantly put in mind of 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. We live in an ageing society. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen is a handbook of resistance for our time. ***** FIVE STARS

Highly entertaining ... a delightful and touching saga of one man's way of coping with old age ... we may assume that Hendrik Groen is a character of fiction. But it is a fiction so closely based on the observation of real life that it is utterly convincing

Hendrik pens an exposé of his care home, sets up the Old-But-Not-Dead club and relishes the arrival of a new female resident. This geriatric Adrian Mole made me laugh and think. Terrific

The hilarious international bestselling novel that has had pensioners ditching their sticks and zimmers to follow the age-defying, youth inducing antics inside The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 ¼ Years Old . . . 
 
'Terrific. This geriatric Adrian Mole made me laugh' Woman and Home 
 
'Funny and touching' BBC Radio 4 
 
Meet Hendrik Groen. An octogenarian in a care home who has no intention of doing what he's told, or dying quietly. To that end, he creates the Old-But-Not-Dead Club and with his fellow members sets about living his final years with careless abandon. Such anarchism infuriates the care home director but pleases Eefje, the woman who makes Hendrik's frail heart palpitate. If it's never too late to have fun, then can it ever be too late to meet the love of your life? 
 
 
'So much more than just a comedy' John Boyne 
 
'A story with a great deal of heart' Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Project 
 
'Amusing and wickedly accurate. A handbook of resistance for our time.' Sunday Express 
 
'Very funny' Jeremy Paxman Financial Times

'Another year and I still don't like old people. Me? I am eighty-three years old.' 
 
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 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 endeavour: 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 indomitable Hendrik Groen - Holland's unlikeliest hero - has become a cultural phenomenon and number one bestseller in his native Netherlands. Now, he and his anonymous creator, whose identity is a fiercely kept secret, are conquering the globe. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen will not only delight older readers with its wit and relevance, but will charm and inspire those who have years to go before their own expiry date.

Hendrik Groen (Author) 
 Hendrik Groen chooses to be an anonymous author to highlight social inequality. He started his diaries on the literary website of Torpedo magazine. 
 
Hester Velmans (Translator) 
 Hester Velmans is the author of two popular children's novels and a translator specializing in modern fiction. Her translation of Renate Dorrestein's A Heart of Stone won the Vondel Prize for Translation and was a Barnes &amp; Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. Her translation of Lulu Wang's The Lily Theater was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her children's book Isabel of the Whales now has a sibling: the second in the Whales Series, Jessaloup's Song (age 10 and up).

Hendrik Groen may be old, but he is far from dead and isn't planning to be buried any time soon. So he 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 endeavour 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, 83¼ Years Old

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