Author:Sue Townsend

THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION FEATURING A BRAND-NEW INTRODUCTION FROM CAITLIN MORAN
'My comfort read. The best diaries ever written' ADAM KAY, GUARDIAN
'Every child in the country should receive a copy on their thirteenth birthday' CAITLIN MORAN
'One of literature's most endearing figures. Mole is an excellent guide for all of us'OBSERVER
**In 2022 Sue Townsend was awarded the Legacy Achievement Award by the Comedy Women in Print prize**
AS SEEN IN THE TIMES
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Friday January 2nd
I felt rotten today. It's my mother's fault for singing 'My Way' at two o'clock in the morning at the top of the stairs. Just my luck to have a mother like her. There is a chance my parents could be alcoholics. Next year I could be in a children's home.
Meet Adrian Mole, a hapless teenager providing an unabashed, pimples-and-all glimpse into adolescent life as he writes candidly about the dog, his parents' marital troubles and life as a tortured poet and 'misunderstood intellectual.'
Forty years after it first appeared, Sue Townsend's comic masterpiece continues to be rediscovered by new generations of readers.
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'The UK's bestselling fiction book of the eighties and one of the great comic creations of the past half-century. Impeccable comic timing, evergreen comic writing. I had more pure reading pleasure than from any other book I read this year' John Self, The Times
'Reading The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole when I was 14 felt quite like an awakening' GREG DAVIES, Sunday Times
'Townsend has held a mirror up to the nation and made us happy to laugh at what we see' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
'One of Britain's most celebrated comic writers' GUARDIAN
Impeccable comic timing, evergreen comic writing. I had more pure reading pleasure than from any other book I read this year
—— John Self , The TimesOne of literature's most endearing figures. Mole is an excellent guide for all of us
—— ObserverTownsend has held a mirror up to the nation and made us happy to laugh at what we see in it
—— Sunday TelegraphAn exquisite social comedy
—— Daily TelegraphA satire of our times. Very funny indeed
—— Sunday TimesMarvellous, touching and screamingly funny . . . set to become as much a cult book as The Catcher in the Rye
—— Jilly CooperFascinating, provocative... [The Morning Star] recalls the best of My Struggle: that swooping interplay between the general and the specific.
—— Claire Lowdon , Times Literary SupplementA masterpiece, heavenly and diabolical in equal measure.
—— Emily Watkins , iA compelling mystery.
—— Mail on SundayThe narrators' stories converge and build towards an unexpected, brilliantly handled and devastating conclusion.
—— Spectator[Knausgaard] reveals himself to be a surprise master of the uncanny... a thoughtful, highly readable novel, packed with ideas and exciting flourishes.
—— Los Angeles TimesWodehouse is a comic master.
—— David WalliamsFor as long as I'm immersed in a P. G. Wodehouse book, it's possible to keep the real world at bay and live in a far, far nicer, funnier one where happy endings are the order of the day.
—— Marian KeyesI'm a huge fan. Wodehouse writes proper jokes.
—— Jennifer SaundersTo dive into a Wodehouse novel is to swim in some of the most elegantly turned phrases in the English language.
—— Ben SchottThis part-literary, part-thriller novel showcases a host of glittering characters...Full of dry wit and charm...if you loved Peaky Blinders, you'll love this.
—— WOMAN & HOMEExuberant, immersive storytelling featuring intrigue and betrayal is matched with wit and tenderness
—— MAIL ON SUNDAYWith charistmatic characters, witty dialogue, and a compelling plot, she captures the reckless atmosphere of a city still coming to terms with the horrors of the First World War. It's an absorbing read and a novel to savour.
—— DAILY EXPRESS, 'Fiction Highlights of 2022'Full of grit and atmosphere.
—— PRIMAAtkinson captures both the glamour and the seediness of this heady period with consummate skill in a book teeming with memorable characters. Gorgeously vivid, often strange and always very funny, it should cement her reputation as one of our finest novelists.
—— Jake Kerridge , SUNDAY EXPRESSIf Dickens had lived to write about The Jazz Age, he would have produced a novel much like Kate Atkinson's "Shrines of Gaiety"... masterful.
—— WASHINGTON POSTThere is the perfect balance throughout of sweetness and heartbreak. And, as always, there is the unmistakable zest of Ms. Atkinson's dry wit.
—— Anna Mundow , WALL STREET JOURNALCombines the colour of a historical drama with the pace of a thriller and the detail of a police procedural... masterful.
—— i NEWSThe novel grabs the reader from the outset. It paints a picture of the capital's glittering nightlife and its seedier underside so vivid, that it is almost possible to smell the stale cigarette smoke and taste the alcohol... the story of Nellie and her family, and the characters they associate with, builds to a satisfying ending as the strands of their lives are deftly woven together.
—— INDEPENDENTMagnificent. A rich and vivid portrayal of sly, brilliant characters in the nightlife of 20s London. I fell in love with them all, even the villains ... I loved every minute.
—— Laura Shepherd-RobinsonFroths with all-night parties, corrupt policemen, sickly cocktails, swanky cars, gossip columnists, gambling dens and beautiful clothes... Ms Atkinson once again proves herself to be a consummate entertainer.
—— ECONOMIST (US)Go out and buy this book today.
—— THE TABLETBook of the Month
—— SAGA MAGAZINEAtkinson's latest fictional treat is packed with intrigue... one can never underestimate the pleasurable power of [her] ability to stud her narrative with humor
—— BOSTON GLOBEAn absorbing tale
—— SUNDAY EXPRESSThe latest novel from an author who never lets you down
—— READER'S DIGESTWhat could be more reassuring in troubling times than a new William Boyd novel? Trio is immensely readable, its descriptions full of light and colour, its humour spot on, its mood a perfect mix of frolicsome and melancholy
—— Sunday Telegraph on TrioReading William Boyd's Trio is like shrugging on a worn leather jacket on the first brisk morning of autumn: cosy but cool . . . He has enormous fun with the worlds - and egos - of page and screen
—— The Times on TrioBreakneck pace seems to be a function of Boyd's exceptional imaginative facility, which sees him just as irresistibly drawn to new ideas as his hero is . . . there's something irresistible about that energy . . . if a whole-life novel is intended to represent the span of a unique existence, then The Romantic gets it right
—— FTThe Romantic is a whole-life novel, a form in which Boyd excels . . . a terrific read
—— Country & Town HouseOn The Overstory: The best book I've read in ten years. A remarkable piece of literature
—— Emma ThompsonOn The Overstory: An extraordinary novel . . . an astonishing performance . . . he is incredibly good at turning science into poetry
—— GuardianThe success of the story - and a success it is - comes not from the ingenious scientific speculations, nor the shrewd literary connections (on the "emotional telepathy" of a work of art, or Daniel Keyes's Flowers for Algernon), but the human story between father and son, as Theo finds out 'how my brain learns to resemble what it loves
—— The CriticRichard Powers's Booker Prize-shortlisted novel is both brutal and heartwarming, intimate and profound. A masterfully curated story of love, grief and loneliness, quietly building to an inevitable and devastating close
—— Press AssociationHe composes some of the most beautiful sentences I've ever read. I'm in awe of his talent
—— Oprah WinfreyIn Bewilderment, the Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist has crafted a story of great beauty and power
—— Business Post