The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle is a book that I picked it up as part of my follower book picks and I’m so glad I did – because it’s a book I’ve ended up absolutely loving!
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The book obviously focuses on the character of Albert Entwistle who is a quiet, single older man who works at the post office. One day he’s given a letter by HR informing him that he has been asked to take compulsory retirement (not a real thing) and thus he begins to think more about his life and what he’s not yet achieved. Albert is gay and no one really knows it; as a boy he had a friend who helped each other realise they were gay; he wants to find this man.
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle plot – 4.5/5
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle plot is one that fills you with a lot of joy from an early stage. It’s essentially the tale of a man who comes out to his work colleagues and friends very late in life whilst trying to find his first and really only love. So you can sort of imagine what happens along the way – some rejection, some redemption and some realisation for both Albert and those around him.
There’s no real fast-paced moments and nothing that ever made the book feel like it was particularly tense. There are some memories of Albert’s that are probably the darkest parts of the book – we’re talking a teenager hiding his sexuality around 40-50 years ago, so you can imagine the reaction of his father who’s incredibly against it.
But overall, as I eluded to in my opening line, The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle is an overwhelmingly heart-warming story. It’ll make you laugh and smile and hopefully have you realising what it must be like for those who don’t think they’ll be accepted for who they are.
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle characters – 4.5/5
Albert himself is a relatively shy man who just goes about his life, never really bothering anybody, going home where he lives with his cat. So when he’s given this letter and his life is forced to change, this changes him quite a lot too. As well as trying to come out about his sexuality, we see Albert’s whole confidence grow, causing him to engage in jokes and conversations with people he wouldn’t previously and even attending social situations he wouldn’t before.
This was one of my favourite aspects of the book – seeing that by realising people accepted him for the thing he’d hidden away for decades, Albert felt like he could really be more confident in himself now.
Other supporting characters along the way fill some stereotypes we imagine in a work place – the bloke that makes the slightly innappropriate jokes, the “Karen” of the group, the loud one etc.
As well as Albert’s story, there’s also another story in tandem happening with another character who Albert meets and their relationship is incredibly wholesome to read about too.
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle final rating – 4.5/5
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle feels like having one big hug and I absolutely loved it! There’s nothing more satisfying for any human being than reading about somebody who’s hidden who they truly are their whole life to then feel accepted and go on a journey of discovery about themselves. The prose is strong enough to make you feel emotional, the characters are unique enough to immerse you in the world, and the ending is satisfactory enough to make you feel like you didn’t quite know everything coming at every step. If you’ve heard of this book and not yet picked it up, you should as it may well just make your day a little brighter.
Buy a copy of The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle
