Hendrik Groen is back for a new adventure. His “Secret Diary,” that he started at age 83 1/4, tells about his life in a nursing home in Amsterdam. There, Hendrik and his friends try to ways to keep life interesting despite their circumstances. But in the years before Hendrik and Evert moved into the home, back when they were lads merely in their seventies, they were friends who got together every week for conversation, a drink, some snacks, and a game of chess. And sometimes they go themselves into trouble they weren’t expecting.
It was the day of the Christmas pageant at a local school. Evert was on his way to Hendrik’s apartment, but his bicycle broke. He stopped to take a look at it and realized that he needed to relieve himself. There was a school nearby with the door open, so he popped in to use the bathroom. As he was leaving, he noticed a nice raincoat in the hallway. His was wet, and there was no one around to claim the raincoat, so Evert put it on. Then he realized it was covering a baby carriage. With a baby in it. Evert thought how funny it would be to show up at his friend’s place with a real baby Jesus at Christmastime, so he takes the carriage and heads for the door.
It’s not until Evert gets himself and the baby carriage to Hendrik’s apartment—through a bad rainstorm—that he realizes the full extent of what he’s done. Hendrik realizes immediately how much trouble Evert had gotten himself into—and Hendrik too, now that he’s brought the baby to his place—and tries to come up with a plan for returning the baby to the parents without them getting into trouble. So here it is—Evert will leave the baby in the park, and Hendrik will call the police from a pay phone to tell them where she is.
Meanwhile, the parents are inconsolable. The principal is trying to calm the chaos at the school. The police are trying to find everyone who had been at the school for the Christmas pageant, to see if anyone saw anything. The mayor’s office is trying to decide what to tell the press. And one lone custodian is hoping everyone leaves the school soon so he can clean up and go home.
Of course, when Evert tries to drop the baby off in the park, everything goes wrong, and he takes her back to Hendrik’s apartment. As the hours go by, the police get more involved in the search for the missing baby. The press is relentless in their attempts to get information. And Hendrik and Evert have to figure out how to keep a baby happy and safe until they can come up with a new plan.
Will they successfully return the baby without anyone finding out who took her, or will they end up in prison together?
Two Old Men and a Baby is the newest tale in the Hendrik Groen universe. Although it doesn’t follow the personal journal style of his first two books, this story still bubbles with all the personality of the Hendrik and Evert that we’ve grown to love. Through it all, Hendrik is calm and level-headed, and Evert is impulsive and spirited, and I can’t help but root for them to find a way out of their latest situation.
I have loved Hendrik and his friends since I first met them. I admire Hendrik and his steadfastness, but it is the Everts of this world that keep things fresh and interesting, that push us to our limits and help us celebrate every win. And the interplay of those two characters is one of the best things about all of Hendrik’s books. Their friendship is the foundation of comedy and tragedy, and I am here for every adventure.
If I had to come up with a criticism of this book, it’s that Hendrik and Evert almost become side characters as the police and other characters in the book take up more of the time. But I still loved this book, because those characters rang true and added lots of interest to the overall adventure. So don’t expect this book to be the same as the previous Hendrik Groen diary style books, but expect Hendrik and Evert to be exactly the way you remember them.
Egalleys for Two Old Men and a Baby were provided by Grand Central Publishing through NetGalley, with many thanks.
