It is 2007, Adrian Mole has turned forty and is living at The Old Pigsty in Mangold Parva, Leicestershire with his second wife, Daisy, and daughter, Gracie. His mother and father, Pauline and George, live next door. His son by his first marriage, Glenn, is fighting in Afghanistan.
Adrian’s low-paid employment is assisting in Mr Carlton-Hayes second-hand bookshop, but his quest for literary success continues. He is writing a play, “Plague!” for the local am-dram Mangold Players which requires a cast of sixty humans supported by several animals, mainly domestic.
Other familiar characters drop in: old schoolfriend Nigel (now blind and gay); sister, Rosie, who plans to go on Jeremy Kyle to test her paternity; half-brother, Brett, on the scrounge since his latest speculation crashed and burned; and, of course, Adrian’s first love, Dr Pandora Braithwaite MP.
On top of reporting how these, and more, impinge on his daily life, Adrian develops prostate trouble, and shares with black humour the trials of his diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment.
The observational humour is as funny as ever as Sue Townsend juggles the storylines with skill and practised mastery. The diary format makes for an easy page-turning read, the temptation to push on one more day is hard to resist.
After a gap of
twenty years since reading The Cappuccino Years, the characters fell easily
back into place. Though read as part of my Book-et List, I discover the series
is still incomplete having missed The Weapons of Mass Destruction! So, that is
one checked off the list, and a new one put on.
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