SECRET LIFE OF ALBERT ENTWISTLE

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle is the fourth novel by British former journalist and author, Matt Cain. At almost sixty-five, Albert Entwistle has worked at Toddington's Royal Mail Delivery Centre in Lancashire, for forty-nine years, and finds his unvarying routine reassuring: he cycles to work, sorts his mail, delivers to the odd number houses before his break, then the even numbers, does his paperwork and goes home to a quiet evening with Gracie, his elderly cat.

It all entails the minimum number of interactions with people that he can manage: getting involved with people seems unnecessarily complicated; he keeps himself to himself. But then, a few things happen to upset his applecart: he's told he is required to retire at sixty-five, Royal Mail policy; he is dragged into organising the Secret Santa for the work Christmas Party (something he would normally not even attend); and his beloved cat Gracie dies.

The thought of retiring spins Albert into an identity crisis: who is he if not a postman? The party forces him to interact more thoroughly with his colleagues. And without Gracie, he realises how terribly lonely he is. It sets him thinking about the time in his life when he was truly happy, and the person who made him so happy.

Someone Albert regularly delivers to is Nicole Ashton, a single teenaged mum with a toddler. While she's stuck in a dingy council house on the insalubrious Flowers Estate, Nicole is not content to depend on others, determined to make something of herself. On her own since Reenie's dad left, she now has a new boyfriend, Jamie, who is studying engineering at Leeds.

He's caring and loving, good with Reenie, but his parents disapprove of their relationship, and Jamie seems unwilling to upset them for fear of losing the allowance they provide. He asks for patience, but Nicole hates the feeling that she's his "dirty secret".

After a sad and lonely Christmas and New Year, Albert vows to stop living an empty, grey life. He now understands that "…he'd used work to stop living, to fill in the gaps left by the one thing that made him feel alive." Back then, he gave up the chance for happiness; now, he decides to track down the person who was the source of that happiness.

He's going to stop hiding his true feelings. He'll need help, and he'll need courage: he's rubbish with tech, and he's going to have to admit to the sexual orientation he has hidden for almost fifty years.

What stuns him is how accepting of his admission, and how everyone he involves wants to help in his search: his gossipy manager, the lonely old spinster with an astonishing past, and the newly arrived gay couple: all offer suggestions and advice when he despairs. Albert discovers he has real friends.

His champion, without a doubt, is Nicole: advice on tech and grooming and clothing, as well as moral support at gay venues. The parallels between their stories are clear, and Albert is able to return the favour in some small way.

Cain's research into the awful treatment of gays in the 1970's is apparent in every chapter, and supported by the transcripts of his conversations with men who experienced it themselves, at the end of the book. There is plenty of humour in this moving, thought-provoking and uplifting novel.