Product Description

Adrian Mole’s pen is scribbling for the twenty-first century. Working as a bookseller and living in Leicester’s Rat Wharf; finding time to write letters of advice to Tim Henman and Tony Blair; locked in mortal combat with a vicious swan called Gielgud; measuring his expanding bald spot; and trying to escape the clutches of Marigold and win over her voluptuous sister Daisy… Adrian still yearns for a better, more meaningful world. And he’s not ready to surrender his pen yet…

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4179 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

About the Author
Sue Townsend is on of Britain’s bestselling authors. Her hugely successful novels include five Adrian Mole books, The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (Aged 553/4) and Number Ten. She is also well known as a playwright. She lives in Leicester.

Customer Reviews

Another hilarious episode in the Mole saga
The latest episode in the Adrian Mole story has arrived, and it is amazing how Sue Townsend manages to keep the story fresh and hilariously funny. This is not a book to read on a train or other public venue and I for one found myself laughing aloud and giggling with amusement as the twists and turns of this diary unfold. Mole's potential for disaster and embarrassment continue unabated and the whole sage of his engagement to the awful Marigold plays out throughout the book.

Alongside Adrian's story we also catch up with his children and his parents, and of course the lovely Pandora, now a junior government Minister. These books are nothing if not topical and reading it is also a political history of the last two years, as Tony Blair stumbles deeper into the morass of Iraq, stretching the loyalty even of Adrian and ultimately Pandora. Other contemporary themes occuring in the book include the property improvement fad, credit card debt, the impact of ethnic cultures on the face of Britain and the animal rights movement.

There are some wonderful new characters in the book too - Adrian's employer, Marigold's sister, and of course the awful potential-father in-law Mr Flowers. While Sue Townsend of course encourages to laugh at Adrian's escapades, she also manages to make us sympathise with him and to identify with some of the problems he experiences. A wonderfully warm and human book, very easy to read, and well worth catching up with.

"Happy people don't keep a diary"
I wouldn't say "Adrian Mole and the WMD" is the best in the series yet, because they are all fantastically written novels; I'm sure future sequels will not disappoint.

In WMD, Adrian is face-to-face with the stressful issues of the modern day, be they credit card debt, terrorism or political correctness. His children are in far-flung countries and his parents have sold their house and moved to rebuild their lives, while he himself battles with a flock of beastly swans and a talking fridge. It's a beautifully-written novel, leaving you laughing out loud and saying to yourself "let me stay up an extra half-hour and find out how he gets out of this one".

It strikes me that one of the many secrets behind the success of the Mole series is that he has become increasingly detached from the character of Pandora. Crucially, she's not gone completely; there are several instances of continuity connections with the past. Is it any wonder how it easy it is for us to visualise Adrian Mole in real life?

Hats off to Sue Townsend - I was gripped, reading it in two days, nearly without putting it down. Buy it now.

Jolly good read
I read this book while on holiday and I couldn't put it down. One of the funniest books I have read in a long while. A truly enjoyable read and very well written. It was funny, moving and poignant.

If you want a book that will make the train/tube/bus journey that little bit more bearable when travelling to and from work, this is the book to read.