Sue Townsend was, and remains, Britain's favourite comic novelist. 
 
For over thirty years, after the publication of her instant and iconic bestseller The Secret Diaries of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ in 1982, she made us weep with laughter and pricked the nation's conscience. Seven further volumes of Adrian's diaries followed, and all were highly acclaimed bestsellers. 
 
She also published five other hugely popular novels - including The Queen and I and The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year - as well as writing numerous well-received plays. Remarkably, Sue did not learn to read until she was eight and left school with no qualifications. As beloved by critics as she was by readers the length and breadth of the nation, she chronicled the lives of ordinary people in Britain through times of upheaval and great social change. 
 
She lived in Leicester all her Life, dying in the city that she loved in 2014.

Sue Townsend

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Enter the world of Susan Lilian Townsend - sun-worshippers, work-shy writers, garden centre lovers and those in search of a good time are all welcome ... 
 
This sparkling collection of Sue Townsend's hilarious non-fiction covers everything from hosepipe bans to Spanish restaurants, from writer's block to slug warfare, from slob holidays to the banning of beige. 
 
These funny, perceptive and touching pieces reveal Sue, ourselves and the nation in an extraordinary new light. Sit back and chortle away as one of Britain's most popular and acclaimed writers takes a feather to your funny bone.

The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman

Discover the brilliantly funny True Confessions of Margaret Hilda Roberts by Sue Townsend, 'the funniest person in the world' - Caitlin Moran, The Times 
 
Tuesday May 24th 
 
Had a lie in until 6am. Then got out of bed and had a brisk rub down with the pumice stone. I opened the curtains and saw that the sun was shining brightly. (A suspicion is growing in my mind that the BBC is not to be trusted.) 
 
Margaret Hilda Roberts is a rather ambitious 14 ¼ year old grocer's daughter from Grantham. She can't abide laziness, finds four hours of chemistry homework delightful and believes she is of royal birth - or at least destined for great things. But Margaret knows that good things never come to those who wait . . . 
 
These are the secret diary entries of a girl born into an ordinary life, yet who might just go on to become something really rather extraordinary, and she is brilliantly brought vividly to life by bestselling author Sue Townsend, Britain's favourite comic writer for over three decades. 
 
'Essential reading for Mole followers' Times Educational Supplement 
 
'Wonderfully funny and sharp as knives' Sunday Times

True Confessions of Margaret Hilda Roberts Aged 14 ¼

With carefully adapted text, new illustrations, language practise activities and additional online resources, the Penguin Readers series introduces language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction. 
 
The Secret Life of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾, a Level 3 Reader, is A2 in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to three clauses, introducing first conditional, past continuous and present perfect simple for general experience. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear on most pages. 
 
Adrian Mole is a 13-year-old boy. Adrian writes a diary about his school, his family and, of course, love. "There's a new girl in our class . . . I think I might love her. I am 13 ¾ years old, so I'm old enough for love!"

Penguin Readers Level 3: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ (ELT Graded Reader)

Abridged Edition

Mole Press - a brand new imprint of Penguin Books - is proud to announce the first publication of The Collected Poems of Adrian Mole. 
 
From his timeless first poem - The Tap - via classic odes to his muse, first and only true love Pandora (I adore ya) as well as his burgeoning political anger in Mrs Thatcher (Do you weep, Mrs Thatcher, do you weep?) and on through late works examining the hollow shell of masculinity and his declining libido - such as To My Organ - Adrian Mole moves readers in ways they cannot expect.

Adrian Mole: The Collected Poems

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