Two Old Men and a Baby
Or, How Hendrik and Evert Get Themselves into a Jam
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4.2 • 5 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Nine years before the events of the #1 international bestseller The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, Hendrik and his best friend Evert embark on a madcap adventure—with an unexpected guest.
Hendrik Groen and Evert Duiker, faithful friends in good and bad times, are well over seventy and their lives have quieted down. They see each other once a week to play chess, have a drink, and grab a bite to eat while reflecting on life.But one day, their peace is rudely disturbed when Evert shows up on Hendrik's doorstep with a surprise in the form of an unexpected little guest. He had spotted a stroller with a baby in it—unattended for just a minute—and, in a moment of utter madness, decided to take it for a walk.
Hilarious, right?
Not to Hendrik, who can barely believe his friend's stupidity. After Evert recovers from his momentary lapse of sanity, the two seventy-year-olds resolve to return their charge to its parents—hopefully without being noticed.
But the quiet neighborhood is now swarmed by bumbling police officers, and they realize that getting rid of their accidental foster child will be more difficult than expected . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Groen (On the Bright Side) once again follows a zany elderly friendship in this disappointing outing. Septuagenarians Hendrik and Evert are old friends with a standing date to play chess at Hendrick's apartment. When Evert gets caught in the rain on his way there one day, he ducks into a school where a Christmas program is taking place and finds a baby girl—who is supposed to be Baby Jesus in the play—sleeping in a stroller in the bathroom. Impulsively deciding to take the baby with him to Hendrick's, Evert sets off a chain of chaos, with school and local authorities frantic to find the missing girl. As Hendrick and Evert try to return her without being caught, a nosy neighbor and an opportunistic sanitation worker pretending to be the kidnapper insert themselves in the situation. Unfortunately, the loose plotting falls apart early, and Evert's choice to kidnap a baby, presented as a lark with no explanation, will befuddle readers. Add in paper-thin secondary characters—including police, school administrators, and casual observers only concerned about how the missing baby scandal could affect them—and there's very little here to hook readers. This feels more like a pile of errors than a comedy of them.
