Blog Tour - On The Bright Side (The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen)

Chaos ensues as 85-year-old Hendrik Groen is determined to grow old with dignity: to rise up against the care home director. NO more bingo. NO more over- boiled vegetables. NO more health and safety.

85-year-old Hendrik Groen is fed up to his false teeth with coffee mornings and bingo. He dreams of escaping the confines of his care home and practising hairpin turns on his mobility scooter. Inspired by his fellow members of the recently formed Old-But-Not-Dead Club, he vows to put down his custard cream and commit to a spot of octogenarian anarchy .But the care home's Director will not stand for drunken bar crawls, illicit fireworks and geriatric romance on her watch.

The Old-But-Not-Dead Club must stick together if they're not to go gently into that good night. Things turn more serious, however, when rumours surface that the home is set for demolition. It's up to Hendrik and the gang to stop it - or drop dead trying . . .

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780718186630

I am a big fan of 'The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old' and so when I heard that the lovable diarist, Hendrik Groen, was returning with his next diary I was eager to read it and I was definitely not disappointed.

Hendrik Groen returns and is determined that there is life outside of the care home in which he lives and he wants to be part of it. Joining up with the fellow members of the Old-But-Not-Dead Club they hatch a plan. Reading their exploits left me in fits of giggles and it is like reading about a group of rebellious teenagers. However, as with life, there are also times of sadness and those tug on the heart strings. 

The book is set in 2015 and there are nods to actual events from those time and also issues which affected the general public both then and now including the threatened closure of the care home and I really enjoy reading books that remind me of years gone by and significant events. 

This is the second diary of Hendrik Groen and although it could be read as a stand alone read I think that I enjoyed it more having read the first book as characters from the previous book are mentioned and it is like catching up with old friends again.

A great book to curl up with on long winter nights.

Thank you to the publishers, Michael Joseph, for sending me the book in return for an honest review.