There were so many things I loved about this book - my sweet Ancient Gay Albert finding his life again, his little family he collected, and the death of his cat being treated with dignity instead of used as mockery (looking at you Netflix) - a lot of this book was good and important and had my heart in my throat. It made me shed a lot of tears.

But. It is very clearly written by a white man. There are comparisons made about a gay white man to a Black woman multiple times. And there is a young boy in the book that dies of cancer. His only purpose is to motivate our main character. And people with cancer, people who die of cancer, people who survive cancer, don't exist to motivate anyone to do anything. They are not only their cancer and unfortunately this story uses cancer in this way. I was really disappointed that this was included in the book.

My personal star rating for this book is a 2/5 (problematic but enjoyable) but I don't post reviews lower than 4 on Goodreads.

TW: graphic physical and mental abuse from parents, homophobia, racism. Small amounts of fatphobia.

Thank you to Netgalley for a review copy. All opinions are my own.

I'd like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of the book through Netgalley.

The secret life of Albert Entwistle is such an important story because it shows Queer Joy without erasing Queer trauma. I loved certain aspects of the book and especially enjoyed the narration, if you're going to read this book I highly recommend the audiobook compared to the novel. The book follows two timelines, one with a 15/16-year-old Albert as he falls in love with a boy named George and him as an almost 65-year-old man as he leads a lonely life as a postman following the same routine daily.

I enjoyed reading this book, for the most part, it's got a pretty diverse set of characters and they're pretty well-rounded. I think the problem with stories like these is that we know what's going to happen and how it's going to end, but the journey to get there seems sort of boring almost. I liked the main character yes, but the sudden switch from "I don't like talking to ppl" to "I like being the center of attention sometimes and now talk to everybody." felt very abrupt and I wish we'd seen more of personal growth before we got to that point.

The other issue I had was with Nicole, I wish she'd gotten her own short story instead of so much of this book being about her and her boyfriend. I love her and the way she helped Albert out but I do think that her subplot was way too heavy for her to be a side character but not heavy enough for her to be an MC. I also did not like how fast her conflict with her boyfriend's parents is resolved because it basically boils down to a whole lot of nothing.

My favorite character of this book ended up being George and I really wish we could've seen more of him and his life rather than it being a few lines summing up his life as he's gone through so many of these interesting and intricate things and I was left hoping that I was reading about everything through George's eyes instead of Albert's.

This sort of plot is very important to the queer community and I'm so glad that this book exists because the author's done their research wonderfully and you can see that in the last few pages of the book where the interviews are attached. That being said I do wish this was a novella so the story didn't feel so dragged.

Thank you to NetGalley for this awesome book in exchange for an honest review. Not gonna lie I almost gave up on this one. But about half way through it really caught my attention. I am so glad I pushed through. It was great to see the journey that Albert went through. I also appreciate that we did not spend whole chapters on past or other timelines for the characters.

Poor Albert Entwistle! At 64, he lives alone with his beloved cat, Gracie. He works as a postman and is to be forcibly retired in a few months when he turns 65. This puts Albert in a panic, as he has no friends and no hobbies. In fact, he's isolated himself so much that he can barely speak to the people he works with day in and day out and avoids any meaningful conversations with the people he sees on his mail route. Following a heartbreaking death (you'll have to read or listen to find out who), he's feeling more lost than ever. During his bereavement leave from work, he starts to remember his first love, George, the boy he was forbidden to love and questions of "what if" start to enter his mind. So begins Albert's journey to rejoin the world and truly start living!!

I was initially drawn to Matt Cain's "The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle" because of the references to Fredrik Backman and TJ Klune (plus I've been told I gravitate towards stories about lonely old men who come out of isolation by making new friends - A Man Called Ove is a perfect example). This book had all the elements of a feel good British story and Simon Vance was the perfect narrator. My only complaint is that it took almost a third of the book to lay the groundwork for the rest of the story. While this isn't terrible, some parts definitely dragged and could have been summarized a little more succinctly. That said, this was a truly enjoyable Pride month read/listen.

While I mostly listened to the audiobook, I finished by reading so... Thank you Netgalley, RB Media (audiobook) and Kensington Books (ebook) for the advanced reader copy of this book.

Albert lives a solitary life with his cat, Gracie. When that life is changed, he takes a look at how and why he has been living the way he has been and resolves to change his life.

Wow! What a delightfully surprising read. This was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. I'm an introvert and am not a huge fan of strangers (I know, I know, everyone starts as a stranger), so I really kind of identified with the fact that Albert kept to himself - not necessarily why he did, but the fact that he did. Putting yourself out there can be terrifying. But when I tell you that by the end of this book, it made me legitimately want to change the way that I interact with the people I encounter every day, I am not exaggerating. I know this is fiction. I know that people are complicated and messy. I think this book highlights that well, but it also really highlighted the human capacity for empathy and compassion, acceptance, and friendship.

The characters were rich and well thought-out.

This was the first book by this author I've come across, but I will definitely be checking out others.

Additionally, the audio narration was done very well and captured the characters beautifully.

I would like to thank NetGalley, RB Media, and Matt Cain for a fee copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you like #uplit reads and stories about finding happiness late in life you don't want to miss this book!! I absolutely adored Albert Entswistle, a closeted gay man who gets forced into retirement from his postal job and decides to track down his first love George.

A beautiful cast of secondary characters help Albert come into his own and embrace his sexuality in a way he was never able to do as a young man with homophobic parents. Eventually he tracks down his first love and is able to find reconciliation and a second chance.

Heartwarming and the ultimate feel good read. Highly recommended for fans of A man called Ove or All the lonely people (but make it gay). I really do love books that feature older characters and remind us that they still have lives to live and are worthy of our affection and respect.

Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance review copy. This was also excellent on audio and I am so glad I got to know Albert Entwistle!!

An absolute heartwarming delight. This is a recommended first purchase in all formats for all general fiction collections.

This charming story is about a 65-year-old British postman being forced to retire. As he takes stock of his life, he realizes he is lonely and he doesn’t want to be in the closet anymore.

As he sets about changing his life for the better, we are privy to flashbacks of his strict childhood. You’ll be rooting for Albert the same way you rooted for Ove. It’s such a wonderful feel-good book and a perfect read for pride month!

I thought this would be more romance based and I'm actually not disappointed that this wasn't the case. I ended up getting a really cute story about Albert, soon to be forced into retirement, who finally allows himself to embrace who he truly is and create bonds with the people around him. It was very cute but also incredibly tragic, especially when you realize that this is how people live and have lived. As for the narration, it really brought Albert to life and everyone had their own voice, which made it easy to follow

A very nice feelgood story.
The characters are a bit stereotypical but it is done in a good way.
I like the growth of Albert and him meeting different people and making connections with them.
It is great to see him finally becoming the real person he was supposed to be.

Albert Entwistle has worked his whole adult life delivering the mail. He knows his route like the palm of his hand. Yet, he has kept to himself for 50 years without interacting with anyone on his course.

He lives alone with his cat Gracie and listening to music is the highlight of his day. He has no friends and no human love in his life.

Albert doesn't like surprises and the biggest one is coming. He receives a letter from the Royal Mail telling him that in 3 months' time he has to retire. Albert is frantic. He doesn't know what he will do if he doesn't have his routine anymore.

Albert knows he can't keep on living this way. He knows he has made mistakes and he lost the love of his life, George. They were teenagers when they fell in love and Albert is responsible for their breakup. After much self-analyzing, he makes a decision. He will open up to people, start looking for George and apologize for what he did.

This was a good story! I was able to care for Albert and I was sad about how alone he was and how his life was so full of fear. I enjoyed his journey to self-discovery with the help of Nicole, his workmates, and Edith. What I wasn't sure about was him trying to look for George after so long and not realizing that maybe George already had a family or a special someone. 50 years is a long time to wait.

Kudos to Simon Vance for a wonderful narration and for transporting me to Albert's homeland.

Cliffhanger: No

3.5/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by RB media via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is not a topic I have read a book about before. I had both the e-copy and the audio and decided to listen to the audio version. This was a brilliant decision. I was so hooked after a couple of chapters that I did something I had never done before. I sat through the entire book by picking up one project after another. It was a long journey, but I had to hear it all the way through.
It is not hard to assume what the secret that Albert Entwistle was harbouring. It is not the revelation itself but the magnitude of everything that follows. The narrator is someone I have enjoyed several works of, and his tone of narration matched everything just right. Albert has been doing the same thing for decades, just to keep himself safe (or so he thinks). As forced retirement looms, he is shaken out of his passive life to try and make small changes. The small changes snowball into bigger ones. There is no personality change in this book, unlike some others, because Albert is a quiet individual, not a grumpy one. His social anxiety was more pronounced in the beginning, something that was fun to watch reduce in small ways. There was mild humour injected in the most surprising of times, making all the people in the book feel quite vivid.
I am not sure if it was only the audio version, but it had a chapter with short interviews of men who had to keep their homosexuality a secret in the 70s and 80s Britain. That added an extra something to the entire book. It was hard not to have thought of Albert as an actual individual instead of just a fictional one to whom one would say goodbye at the end!
The author is one that I would definitely recommend and would readily pick up another book of.
I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley, and the review is entirely based on my own listening experience.

Albert Entwistle is a 64 year old postman. In fact, he has been a postman since he was 16. And he loves his job.

Except that people always want to stop and chat to their postman.

So the only option is to say "these letters won't deliver themselves" and keep moving.

Or is it? What can happen if you stop to say hello?

4 + stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐️

Special thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and especially how it turned out. Albert is an endearing main character and it's lovely to witness his growth over the story. The story reminded me in some ways of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and The Authenticity Project - with somewhat awkward protagonists, journeys to personal growth and the power of found family. There were some laugh out loud moments and some that had me tearing up. I did find it an interesting choice to include some chapters from Nicole's POV but I think once I trusted there was a purpose it worked. I appreciated the way the history of government/police discrimination against gay men and related activism in the UK was weaved into the story - including the bonus interviews at the end.

On the pacing: My reading experience was a bit of a journey. I started listening at a lower speed than usual. At the same time, the beginning of the book is a little bit grim and the story is a bit slow paced to start. About a third of the way through, it starts to feel much more hopeful and the pace picks up. By the end, I sped up the audio speed at the same time that the story really picks up and the last third was touching and delightful.

Content warnings for a lot of on-page homophobia, some racism and xenophobia.

This one was very ordinary to me. I don’t know I liked the characters and some of the plot elements. But nothing screams brilliant or unique
Which is in a bad thing sometimes you w

EXCERPT: Gracie was still asleep on his lap when I'm a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! began at nine o'clock. In this episode, a comedian Albert had never found funny, a pop star he'd never heard of, and somebody who called himself a 'social media influencer', a profession he'd never understood, were sitting around the camp talking about their biggest fears.

'Mine's spiders,' said the pop star, pulling a face.

'Mine's snakes,' said the comedian, squirming. He turned to the influencer. 'What's yours?'

'People,' Albert said out loud, talking over the influencer. 'People.'

As the chatter on TV continued, Albert couldn't help considering his answer. He hadn't always been frightened of people; when he'd been at school he'd been quite sociable and had lots of friends, friends like Tom Horrocks and Colin Broadbent. When they were little, the boys had played British Bulldog, Piggy, and Finger, Thumb, or Icky in the playground, later on meeting up to go to the pictures or the local temperance bar, later still sneaking into pubs, each of them doing their best to look old enough to be served at the bar, goading each other on and reveling in the shared thrill of transgression. It was a transgression they knew was only minor and might even make their fathers proud, reminding them of a similar rite of passage in their own youth.

But then everything had changed.

Albert had been given a blunt message about what his friends thought of people like him, what the world at large thought about people like him - of the real him, the him he'd been careful to keep well hidden. As a result, he'd gradually begun backing away from everyone and had first retreated into his work, later into caring for his mam. Little by little, he'd been overwhelmed by a new shyness, a shyness that was bolstered by fear, like a current he'd been powerless to swim against - until he was drowning in it.

But it doesn't do to dwell.

ABOUT 'THE SECRET LIFE OF ALBERT ENTWHISTLE': Albert Entwistle is a private man with a quiet, simple life. He lives alone with his cat Gracie. And he’s a postman. At least he was a postman until, three months before his sixty-fifth birthday, he receives a letter from the Royal Mail thanking him for decades of service and stating he is being forced into retirement.

At once, Albert’s sole connection with his world unravels. Every day as a mail carrier, he would make his way through the streets of his small English town, delivering letters and parcels and returning greetings with a quick wave and a “how do?” Without the work that fills his days, what will be the point? He has no friends, family, or hobbies—just a past he never speaks of, and a lost love that fills him with regret.

And so, rather than continue his lonely existence, Albert forms a brave plan to start truly living. It’s finally time to be honest about who he is. To seek the happiness he’s always denied himself. And to find the courage to look for George, the man that, many years ago, he loved and lost—but has never forgotten. As he does, something extraordinary happens. Albert finds unlikely allies, new friends, and proves it’s never too late to live, to hope, and to love.

MY THOUGHTS: Love and loss. I bet there are a lot of Albert (and Alberta) Entwhistles out there, people who have hidden their love, their desires, their dreams in order to conform to society.

Albert is the loveliest character. It's a wonderful journey, watching him come to terms with himself, come out of his shell, and work out what he really wants from life. Of course, he has some help along the way. Marjorie, his boss, has a terminally ill grandson, a diabolical digestive system, and is not coping well with menopause, a fact she is not at all reticent about sharing, much to Albert's embarrassment. Nicole, a young black single mum with aspirations and an uncertain love life. Edith, elderly and alone, who used to be a great beauty with many suitors, but is now desperate for company.

Albert's coming out is a wonderfully warm story that had me with earplugs in, listening at every opportunity. It's a story of personal growth, of a man filled with fear and shame who slowly becomes honest with himself, optimistic and looking forward to his future. It's an emotional story. I cried for Albert the teenager, and for his friend George. I was saddened by the unhappy, reclusive man Albert became. I wept tears of joy and relief as Albert found himself, his new self, a man who made friends and helped others. There were places I laughed out loud, and snorted coffee through my nose.

There's really nothing surprising in this story, but that's not a criticism. It's a lovely heartwarming experience and one that I am glad to have had. Two things further enriched my listening pleasure: narrator Simon Vance was superb. He singly narrated a large cast of characters and not once was I confused about who was speaking. The second was author Matt Cain talking about his research and some excerpts of his interviews with gay men who lived through the eras that Albert's story is set in.

Highly recommended.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.4

#TheSecretLifeofAlbertEntwhistle #NetGalley

I: @mattcainwriter @recordedbooks

T: @MattCainWriter @rbmediaco

#audiobook #contemporaryfiction #comingofage #historicalfiction #lgbt #romance

THE AUTHOR: Matt Cain is a writer, broadcaster, and a leading commentator on LGBT+ issues. Born in Bury and brought up in Bolton, Matt now lives in London with his partner, Harry, and their cat, Nelly.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to RB Media via Netgalley for providing an audio ARC of The Secret Life of Albert Entwhistle for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

This was so sweet even though it’s predictable. I really enjoyed the heartwarming tone of this story. I highly recommend this for anyone who needs a warm heartwarming story.

Holy, mother of…
This book was, no sorry, is, incredible. The story of a 64 years old closeted man whose life starts to crumble. He has just a few months left before he has to retire, and his cat, his only friend, and family, dies. At the same time, he finds old letters from the only man he ever loved. So he decides to search for him, and apologize to him. And for this, he starts to open up to people, he comes out to some, finds a community, and finds friends. And he even helps Nicole, a single young black mother, struggling with her boyfriend. And she’s not the only one he helps, he just discovers that the world changed and, he’s also changing for the best.
This book is just 5/5 stars. It’s beautiful, well-written, touching, heartfelt, and emotional. It gives hope and helps us remember why we should live our lives. For the one who couldn’t, for the one who lived in the 50/the 60s and after. For the ones who had to stay closeted their entire life, for the ones who died, for the ones that couldn’t love.
This story also shows us, that it’s never too late to live your life. There’s always hope, you can always love the person you are meant to be. Second chances are possible. There will always be people that will accept you and who you are, no matter what.
You will always find a community.
I had never read a book with a protagonist this old (always with YA or NA books), but it was not a disappointment, it allowed me to reflect on some aspects of my life. Also, even if the story is set between December and March, this is the perfect story for pride month.
Oh and the narrator? Perfect for it. His voice was wonderful, and he made me feel so many emotions at once.
TW: Homophobia, Animal (cat) death, Bullying, Racism, Cancer, Child death, Body shaming, Emotional and physical abuse, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Parent death, Sexism, and Homophobic slurs.

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this ALC in exchange for an honest review!

It took me a little bit to really get into this book, but by about 50% I was obsessed with Albert's journey! This is such a heartwarming story of someone who was so rigidly taught to hate such an essential part of himself, that he didn't let anyone know him at all. The life Albert was living felt so lonely and cold, and it was really difficult to read about. But, when Albert finds his muse and starts living for his friends and his dream, I was hooked! I loved this inspirational story featuring an older LGBT main character, and so highly recommend it to everyone!

The story/plot is nice enough; Albert coming in to his own and accepting his sexuality. But the writing wasn't my cup of tea. It just felt a little too on the nose for me. Especially the thoughts/inner dialogue of Albert. It became very much "to much telling not enough showing". And many places the writing also felt extremely repetitive. In addition, the drastic and sudden switch in Albert's disposition towards other people seemed a little too easy to me. From one day to the next he goes from not being able to function without his strict routines and not being able to converse with his colleagues or anyone else, shying away from literally everybody, to talking to strangers, making quick friends, inviting people into his home. Like, it's a lovely change, and probably good for him, but it quite literally was written as if I happened within the span of... a couple of days?

So while I can see some people enjoying this book for the story/main plotline alone, from my point of view it just wasn't well enough executed for me to really enjoy it.