If you know me, you’ll know I’m a hugger. I love a big, full-on squeeze and Sue Townsend’s Adrian Mole books are the paper equivalent of an enormous bear hug. These books capture beautifully and humorously the angst of adolescence, the uncertainty of emerging adulthood and the struggles and responsibilities that come with middle age.
Our protagonist is Adrian Albert Mole, a (self-proclaimed) intellectual who chronicles every aspect of his life in his diaries, from the 1980s to the 2000s. Every misstep, frustration and crushing disappointment is detailed, as is every victory, triumph and moment of elation. The result is funny, poignant and relatable.
Supporting characters are many and varied, including Bert Baxter, a grumpy pensioner with a fondness for beetroot sandwiches; Marigold Flowers, a miniature dollshouse enthusiast with fragile wrists; and Geilgud, a particularly vicious swan, capable of breaking a man’s arm.
I’ve read these books more times than I can remember and they never fail to make me feel good. Like Adrian, I grew up in Leicester during the 80s and, whilst I was a few years behind him, I was familiar with the landmarks mentioned and could identify with many of his teenage trials and tribulations. I even enjoyed a brief period of notoriety at school when a rumour circulated that Sue Townsend was my Mum (regularly having an S inserted into my surname is the cross I bear, although on this occasion I didn’t mind too much). Over the years I read each new book as soon as it came out, navigating stages of my life alongside my tragi-comic companion, only with less terrible poetry inspired by unrequited love (“Pandora! I adore ya! I implore ye, don’t ignore me!”) on my part.
Sue Townsend had a gift for creating truly brilliant, memorable characters and for her thoughtful and amusing commentary on British society. She died in 2014 at age 68, whilst in the middle of writing what would have been the ninth Adrian Mole book. I’m sad that I’ll never know what his future held, but I’m glad that I hitched a ride with him for a while and I know my bookshelves are a richer place for him living there.
