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Starting with The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 ¼ Years Old, pseudonymous author Hendrik Groen has regaled readers with stories about the adventures of a group of lively elderly residents in a retirement home in Amsterdam. But in Two Old Men and a Baby, he shows that the antics didn’t start when he moved into the retirement home.
The story steps back to an earlier time in Hendrik’s life, when he still lived on his own, enjoying a quiet life and a weekly drink with his closest friend, Evert. One night, following a series of mishaps, Evert shows up at his friend’s apartment with a baby in a stroller. Obviously, this accidentally stolen baby creates all kinds of problems for the two old men—as well as for the mayor, the police, and various politicians, the baby’s parents, and the staff at the school where she was last seen. But no matter how hard they try, Hendrik and Evert can’t seem to give her back.
As these two old men try to figure out how to care for a baby and return her to her parents anonymously—to keep themselves out of jail—it will come as no surprise to readers that things get incredibly messy. After all, earlier installments have followed these two through one messy situation after another. Everything about this story is a mess—so much so, in fact, that readers may struggle from the beginning to figure out why Evert walks off with the baby in the first place. But while the story isn’t exactly solid (or even especially believable), it’s definitely loaded with the kind of wacky mishaps that seem to follow these two characters wherever they go.
Still, Groen’s latest adventure doesn’t hold the same charm as the other two. The main character and his best pal may be the same spirited characters, but they aren’t surrounded by the usual band of lovable friends and neighbors. Instead, the retirement home residents are replaced with the kind of self-serving bureaucrats and would-be crooks that Hendrik is constantly complaining about—people who want to take advantage of the circumstances to make a buck or improve their political standing. And since they seem to fill up more of the story than Hendrik and Evert, readers may find it difficult to feel connected to any of them.
For fans of Hendrik Groen and his friends, Two Old Men and a Baby definitely feels like an unexpected departure from the usual elderly antics. It still has its share of high jinks, but the new characters aren’t nearly as charming as the series regulars.
Listen to the review on Shelf Discovery:
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