This book weaves together themes of self-acceptance, the one that got away, and LGBTQ+ history. It both made me laugh and hurt my heart. It had the potential to be a 5-star read, but it fell short for a few reasons. One of the main reasons being that it is told through two points of view, those of Albert and Albert's neighbor Nicole. While I loved the interactions between Albert and Nicole, and I appreciated the parallels between their two storylines, I didn't feel her character needed to be a narrator. In fact, I felt like her POV took away from the telling of Albert's story which should have been the focus.
Overall, I thought this was great read, and I do recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for allowing me early access to the ARC audiobook edition of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I absolutely adored this book! It has some "Man Called Ove" vibes initially, in that Albert is walled off and reclusive; however, ultimately lets his guard down and finds the courage to embrace his true self. It has forbidden love, humor, and wisdom. Cain's storytelling is impeccable and the narrator brings the story to life so beautifully. I was laughing and crying throughout! The whole audio production was flawless and the author's afterward was very powerful.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and RB Media/Recorded Books for an advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for the ARC!
I did not finish this audiobook, I don't feel like this book is particularly for me but I can imagine that many people would absolutely love it and I will still be recommending it to friends and family who I think will enjoy it!

"The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle" by Matt Cain is a beautifully written novel that explores the complexities of love, loss, and identity. The book follows the story of Albert Entwistle, a shy and introverted man who works as a postman in a small town. Albert is living a secret life, hiding his true identity from those around him, until a chance encounter with a new colleague sets in motion a series of events that will change his life forever.

One of the things that I loved about this book is the way that the author portrays Albert's journey of self-discovery with sensitivity and empathy. Cain has a talent for creating characters that feel real and authentic, and I found myself rooting for Albert as he navigated the challenges of coming out and finding love.

Another standout feature of "The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle" is the beautiful writing. Cain has a talent for crafting sentences that are both poetic and precise, and his descriptions of the small town and its inhabitants are vivid and evocative.

The book also tackles important themes, including the impact of homophobia and the need for acceptance and understanding. Cain does not shy away from difficult topics, and his frank and honest portrayal of the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals is both moving and thought-provoking.

Overall, "The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle" is a beautifully crafted novel that will appeal to anyone who enjoys stories about the complexities of the human experience. It is a poignant and heartfelt book that will leave a lasting impression on the reader. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a well-written and emotionally resonant read.

This book was an easy read, and nice and cozy, at that. The story of a quiet, almost-reclusive man experiencing the moment that helps him to consider putting down his guard, little by little, was crafted in a way that made it feel like a very kind story rather than a judgmental or condescending story. At its core, though, it's about a man who was forced by society to turn inward and repress his real self because his real self was considered indecent and criminal for so long. That aspect of it was certainly heartbreaking, all the more so because there are so many people who met the same fate.

It was a simplistic story, despite (or in spite of?) the complexity that must underly a life such as Albert's, and it wrapped up a bit too neatly, but it was an enjoyable book all the same. I do think if the author had brought more of the reality of such a situation into the novel, it would've been entirely too heavy for most.

Many thanks to Netgalley, RB Media and the author, for the ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was adorable, albeit long. The book follows the story of Albert Entwistle, an almost 65 years old, almost retired postman with the Royal mail. Albert has lived in the exact same way, for years, walking the same routes, delivering letters to the same people and going home to his cat Gracie. But when the day comes, when he is reminded about his looming retirement and something heartbreaking happens, Albert begins to slowly open towards possibilities of changing his life for the good. This story is a story of love, friendship and warmth.

The story is much similar to Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine, yet very different. The story also portrays the pain, the heartbreak and exhaustion of living a repressed life and self hate. I loved to see Albert come out of his shell and become more thoughtful and slowly make friends and ingratiate himself into the community. The way Albert finally decide to speak up for himself and others and call out people on their BS was both funny and heartwarming.

Yet the book was to long for my liking and could have been much shorter and crisp. The romance was also underwhelming as George was like a shadow throughout the story. Also I wanted more of Gracie, who can blame me.

The narration was however perfect and had me laugh out loud at times, just from the utter confusion and incredulity that Albert faced.

TW: Homophobia, Sexism, Misogyny, verbal abuse, parental neglect

2.5

I am sad to say I didn't enjoy this very much, and I really wanted to. This book seemed pretty much like everything I would normally enjoy, and it had its good moment but overall the execution fell short for me. I definitely see why people enjoyed it though!

tw: homophobia, racism, death of a pet

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle follows Albert, a postman in his 60s who everyone knows in passing, but no one is really friends with him. Albert lives with his cat Gracie and makes a conscious effort not to make any friends or get close to anyone. A few months before his 65th birthday he learns that he is being forced to retire on the account of his age. Suddenly he has to face his life with no friends, or family and it really makes him reconsider how he is living. He decides to try and open up, make some friends, and search for George - a man he'd been in love with 50 years ago.

As I said, this sounds perfectly up my alley. I love stories of older queer people, they bring me immense joy, and I love stories of people searching for happiness and trying to become the best versions of themselves. So, all that considered, this should've been the perfect book for me. However, I ended up slightly disappointed. I strongly sympathized with how Albert was struggling, but the book as a whole was oversimplified and underwhelming at times. I also had issues with the pacing, I felt like the beginning was very slow and it took me a while to properly get into the book.

The novel follows two POVs, Albert's and Nicole's. Nicole is a young single mom who Albert meets while delivering mail, and there is quite a bit of her chapters devoted to her relationship with her boyfriend. Personally, I enjoyed her interactions with Albert, he was like a grandfather figure to her and I thought it was cute, but I didn't really understand why her relationship played such a big role in the story. It felt quite disconnected from Albert's storyline, it seemed like it was only there so Albert can share that you shouldn't give up on people you love, but perhaps there were other ways to do it.

Albert's chapters consisted of the present day and of flashbacks to his and George's relationship. Albert's dad had been a cop, and extremely homophobic so Albert feels a lot of shame and guilt and internalized homophobia. Albert's mom was very verbally abusive to him, more so the older she was, so he overall has quite a bit of trauma and regrets stacked up. This is all mainly the reason why he stays closeted and keeps away from people. We see in the flashbacks how violently homophobic the time he grew up in was, and how his and George's relationship suffered because of that. After another tragedy and learning he will lose his job, he makes an effort to meet his coworkers, and get to know Nicole and the gay couple who moved in near him recently. It was nice to see him take ownership of his own life and get more free by doing so. Meeting more and more people, he learns that people's attitudes towards queer people have greatly changed and that gives him the courage to come out to all of them.

So, while all of that seems pretty great, and the overall plot is good, my issue was that everything felt entirely oversimplified. Albert has spent many years in hiding based on his environment growing up, to the point of intentionally becoming secluded and having no one close to him. And yet, he just one day decides he wants to change (which is great), but there are really no setbacks for him after that. Everything just works out. Same with Nicole, both she and her boyfriend decide they want the relationship, and everything magically gets solved, no issue.

I also felt like the discussions of homophobia in the present day were a bit strange. Many people tell Albert something along the lines of 'no one really has any problem with gay people anymore', painting a picture of a magical, homophobia-free world, which I think is simply not true. But even so, if I were to believe that, literally there were characters saying homophobic things at Albert's workplace, in front of him (One of his coworkers did apologize to him and all that, but that still doesn't erase the scene). There were many instances such as this one that really did feel like every big obstacle was just made minimal and then was jumped over with no issue.

I am by no means against happy endings, I definitely prefer my books with them. But, if the story is dealing with some heavy issues, like this one is, I appreciate a certain dose of reality. The beginning of the story does that very well, it shows how Albert is lonely and frankly, afraid of communication, and that makes sense. But it boils down solving your issues to the very simple 'just decide to do so'. Because as I said, as soon as Albert decides to 'fix' his life, nothing is stopping him and there were no setbacks at all, except for a little bit of uncertainty in his thoughts (which I probably would've expected more of, given how much he was stepping out of his comfort zone). By the end, everything works out so easily and it is quite unrealistic in that regard. I definitely think all of these things could have happened, but it was such a short time and it was all like magic.

[spoiler starts] Also, Albert's cat, Gracie, dies quite close to the beginning and I was so incredibly upset when that happened. It was that which actually pushed Albert to make some changes in his life (besides being forced into retirement), but it felt so unnecessary. I know I am maybe too upset about this, but truly it felt like an unnecessary death that came out of nowhere to further the plot. [spoiler ends]

All in all, I do see why people enjoy this book. It is at times sweet and hopeful and everyone gets their happy ending. In theory that is perfect, but as far as the execution goes I expected more. The pacing was off at times with some scenes dragging, I didn't think there was a need for the second POV (even though I loved Nicole), and overall everything felt oversimplified and surface value. If you are interested in the book, don't let my review stop you from reading it. Maybe you end up enjoying it more, as I am definitely not in the majority with this!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review!

The first thing you need to know about The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle is that it is a quiet book. Quiet and gentle. It’s the difference between a cosy mystery set in rural England and Law & Order: SVU. Don’t expect fast-paced revelations. This book is slower and mellower than many contemporary romances around the place. I had to deliberately switch gears to get into it.

Albert Entwistle is nearly 65. He’s a postman for the Royal Mail in the small town of Toddington in England’s north. He’s been a postie since he was 18 and left high school. He has a solitary life and very routine – he eats the same meals every week, he has a Crunchie bar (it’s a kind of candy/chocolate bar – honeycomb covered in chocolate = very nice) with his lunch every day. He keeps himself to himself. He has no friends, doesn’t engage with his co-workers and has only his elderly cat, Gracie for company. For many years he looked after his sick mother but she died 7 years earlier and he has been alone ever since. Even when it was him and his “mam” it’s not like they were close. She would berate and belittle him at every turn.

But Albert loves to dance and sing along to show tunes in the night time behind closed curtains where no-one can see. And he remembers his long lost love, George.

The book begins with Albert getting a letter from HQ which tells him his compulsory retirement is nearly upon him and then Gracie gets sick. Yes, there is pet death on page so beware (I cried). These events shake up Albert’s world and he vows to make some changes. He decides to find George.

It’s been nearly 50 years since their year together, hiding from public view and falling in love during their final year of high school. Back then being gay was only legal if you were over 21. At 17/18 it was a different story. And, even so, being gay in public was not okay and bars and clubs were regularly raided. In small town England the homophobia was even worse. (Be warned, there is quite a bit of homophobia in this book).

Interspersed among the story is a bit of the gay history of England since the 1970s – interesting, sad and enraging at turns. The main story is set in about 2019 I think, doing the maths.

In the course of Albert’s search he makes friends with a young Black single mother, Nicole, aged 19, who has a 3-year-old daughter Irene (“Reenie”). Nicole has a romance of her own (as well as POV sections) and I was very invested! In fact most of the romance within the book itself was for Nicole and Jamie.

Albert and George’s romance is told in flashbacks and what future they may have is still to be told when the book ends.

Albert also makes many other friends, including with a gay couple Daniel and Danny, who move into the neighborhood and many of his co-workers. He opens up, shows interests in others, releases the kindness he has been hiding and, he comes out. It’s a slow process but almost universally, the people he comes out to are very kind. It’s perhaps a picture of an ideal world but it felt a bit too “It’s a Wonderful Life” by the end.

The cast is large, with many of the other characters who go through their own life events during the course of the book. (Listeners should note that one of those life events is the death of a child – a relative of a secondary character – from cancer.) Albert is there to offer sage advice. He’s perhaps a little too perfect considering how very insular he’s been. It was just a little too saccharine.

Albert’s history of what is essentially abuse by his parents (of the emotional kind and a little bit of the physical from his dad, especially when his dad found out Albert was gay) is very sad and difficult to hear. What’s even sadder is that there are many teenagers who experience this kind of thing even now. There’s also some explicit depictions of casual homophobia, racism and gay bashing so for all the gentle tone of the story there are serious topics being covered.

I did find it a little hard to get a handle on Albert. There was very little by way of physical description. I didn’t have a clear view of him really. I know he’s got gray hair and he’s 64 and I gather he’s fairly fit because he walks a lot but as for physicality, he was a bit of a cipher. It seems he’s a young 64, initially hiding in an older 64-year-old’s body.

The narration is very good, with all the various regional accents being delivered skilfully by Simon Vance. Mr. Vance’s female character voices were very good too. Given the wide-ranging cast, Mr. Vance had plenty of opportunity to demonstrate the range of ages he can depict as well, from toddler Reenie, to Albert himself and many, many characters in between. There were also a range of characters of colour, including some from Pakistan and the accent there was well done and also respectful.

There were a few (perhaps more than a few) instances where there was a pause in a sentence where it didn’t belong, causing a bit of a stutter in the throughline. Sometimes I had to mentally replay the sentence to get the understanding. But there were no other issues of any significance and overall I enjoyed his performance quite a bit.

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle was a change of pace to my usual listen – it was also sweet (if a little too much so at times) and gentle and kind and who doesn’t need a bit of that in their lives?

I really enjoyed this audiobook! It had Fredrick Backman and TJ Klune vibes, which are two of my favorite authors. I am interested in more from this author in the future.

I usually read thrillers but this book sounded intriguing so I decided to give it a shot and I'm glad I did!The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle was such a great surprise. At times, there were many bittersweet moments, and I enjoyed every bit of them. Every character from this story was such a great addition that I had many favorites. It felt like I was reading a script for a sitcom! Thoroughly entertaining. Overall, amazing story telling and Albert stole a piece of my heart on his quest of finding the one that got away.

I wasn't ready to be so charmed by this story. I put this one off for a while and it's been sitting in my netgalley and I finally started it and committed to it. I loved it. It is about this postman who is almost 65 and is going to be forced into retirement. He is a closeted gay man and has some trauma happen when he was a teenager that affected the rest of his life.

Albert definitely has some social anxiety and would much rather stay at home with his cat then socialize with anyone. He keeps to himself at work and on his routes but he is kind of forced to come to terms with what he's going to do after his retirement. This book is told in two point of views where the majority of it is told from Albert's point of view and the other part of it is told from Nicole's point of view. Nicole is a 19-year-old a Black single mother who lives on one of Albert's postal routes. Circumstances lead to them having a brief conversation and in unlikely friendship ensues.

Over the course of the story Albert gains a lot of confidence in himself as a person and as a gay man. He has to confront some internalized homophobia and ends up finding multiple communities that he is a part of. He is searching for his long lost teenage ex-boyfriend and the story leads us all over. We follow Albert as he learns what happened to George when he moved out of his parents house and when he got his first job and the bar that he worked in all the way up to what he's doing now.

Nicole has her own story arc with her daughter and her boyfriend. She learns to have confidence in herself not only as a person but as a single mom and a partner. She teaches Albert a lot but she also learns a lot from Albert about going after what you want and what would make you happy. I really appreciated her story arc as well.

The singular thing keeping this from a favorite of mine is the fat phobia. There is a lot of moments where Albert encounters problematic behavior from his coworkers or customers or taxi drivers or literally anyone and all of his internal dialogue talks about how he doesn't agree and wants to stand up to them and understands that that behavior is problematic. The only time that this is not challenged is with fatphobic remarks. I am so tired of fat phobia in books. The main moments that I remember are involving Nicole telling Albert that he shouldn't eat this or wear that because he's going to be frumpy or gain weight and George won't want him anymore. There's this underlying message that being fat is bad and unattractive and we have to stop this bullshit and call it out. Moments like that happen multiple times through the book and it's just exhausting at this point.

CW for pet death. I cried. I wasn't ready even though it's kind of hinted at but yeah it's a lot.

Trigger Warnings: Racism, abandonment, homophobia, alcohol, past death of a parent, internalized homophobia, bullying, past miscarriage, cancer, emotional abuse, sex, grief, police, child abuse, police brutality, animal death, coming out, racial slurs, xenophobia, islamophobia, body shaming, violence, police raids, HIV/AIDS, terminal illness, off page death of a child

Representation: Black, Gay, Drag

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle is a contemporary romance about postman Albert, who was just told he will be mandatorily retired in three months. Albert is a very private man with a strict schedule who’s world is about to be completely changed. From the notification until his final day, Albert faces various challenges in his quest for what he’ll do next after retirement.

I really loved this book! I thought the story was so cute and funny! I wish I had a grandpa or friend like Albert! While I don’t share the same coming out story, I thought Albert’s was one that many others do and it is such an important part of our queer history to share.

I thought Albert was the sweetest old guy! In the beginning, I was worried about his reaction to the news because there’s such a stereotype around old men. I was very concerned that I was going to have to deal with a grouch for the rest of the story. Luckily the author didn’t take him in that direction and he is just the sweetest thing! He truly is so secretive that you don’t even realize his big, mushy heart! I loved seeing him open up and all of his interactions with the world around him that he avoided for so long. I wish nothing but happiness for this guy in all of his days!

Albert isn’t even the only character that you fall in love with! I loved meeting Nicole as well and thought her inclusion in the story was such a nice surprise. All of the other side characters were also enjoyable and well written. This story is very feel-good, but also hits you with a range of emotions and experiences! Definitely recommend checking it out!

Albert was such a loveable character and it was inspiring and sweet to see his transformation and reawakening in his twilight years. The supporting characters are also essential to the story. Well-written and highly entertaining!

Loved this book it really showed you are never too old to find yourself and be who you truly are! Albert was lovable and funny

This is the queer British love story I didn’t know I wanted. It had hints of Eleanor Oliphant and I loved listening to Albert slowly recalling the lost love affair of his youth. I cheered for Albert as he slowly crawled out of the closet and showed his coworkers and the world who he really is. How refreshing to read about an older gentleman who grew up in a time where queer love was necessarily hidden and who lived to see the day where his love could be spoken about openly, honored, and even celebrated. Albert was a delight and his character was masterfully brought to life through impeccable narration by the always stunning Simon Vance.

I’m thankful to NetGalley for an advanced audio copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced listening copy of this audiobook! This book was delightful and absolutely heartwarming. It's entirely predictable, but in a good way. You know going into it what you're going to get out of reading it, and it doesn't disappoint. It's one of my favorite recent audiobooks. The narrator, Simon Vance, was fantastic. I need to look up some other books he's narrated. This is perfect for fans of A Man Called Ove and All the Lonely People. It also gave me major The House on the Cerulean Sea Vibes (minus the fantastical elements). I also really enjoyed reading the author's interviews with gay men who grew up during the time period of this book.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, RB Media, and Recorded Books in exchange for an honest review.

Content warning: homophobia, bullying, death of pet, death of child

While somewhat predictable (but I didn't mind), this is a sweet, sweet story of shy, introverted Albert Entwistle who is a postman in a small town in England who has just been given the news that he will need to retire. Albert has been a postman since he was 16 and has lived a solitary life so retirement is something of a scary prospect. But then Albert decides to try and find his lost love, and in doing so, makes some unlikely friends along the way. Throughout the plot of Albert's search for George... and his growing friendship with a young single mother, and some of the people he meets along his postal route, is a larger story of what life was like growing up within the LGBTQIA+ community in the last 50 years. It's a hard truth and those lived experiences paved the way for LGBTQIA+ rights.

THE SECRET LIFE OF ALBERT ENTWISTLE is a good read on it's own, but the author's note at the end where Cain talks about the real life stories he's heard that helped to shape Albert's story was what really made this book great.

Simon Vance brings Albert to life with the audiobook performance and this was a joy to listen to.

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle is a fantastic book! I loved seeing Albert coming out of his shell as this book went on. I’ve never read anything that focused on an older queer person and this hurdles they have faced and I thought this book did such a great job showing that journey. Albert’s story was heartbreaking and I think it is a poignant reminder of how far we have come.

While I loved this book and it was one of my favorite reads of the year I do think it could have been shortened slightly and still had the same punch.

I really enjoyed the narrator and his British accent made the audio experience more enjoyable.

Overall, this book was a 4.75 for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for an copy of this audio in exchange for an honest review.

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle is a sweet story perfect for fans of Ove. Charming and uplifting, a great read!

albert entwistle is such a kind, generous man who’d win the best grandpa award! he quickly charmed me with his determination to find love and willingness to seek out a chosen-family among the community around him. you can easily see his character evolution throughout the novel and i couldn’t help feeling proud of albert for coming out of his shell and surrounding himself with friends and colleagues who love him for who he is.

the plot jumps between albert in the present and albert and george in their pasts. this perspective was especially interesting because you could see the differences in culture and thought between the decades. at time i found it confusing when the time periods were separated by each other. this may have to do with it being the audiobook; i’m sure that in physical format, they’d be marked by paragraph chunks. all in all, i thought this novel flowed really well and i was extremely satisfied with everybody’s endings!