I was eager to revisit this after recently reading the first Adrian Mole book. It follows directly on from that first volume, into an even more turbulent time in Adrian’s young life. His relationship with Pandora goes quite badly wrong, his parents end up in an even bigger mess than before, and he’s got the stress of his exams to cope with. He often struggles with it all, and his attempts to cope don’t go very well…

It’s just as funny and clever as the first book, although feels a bit darker in tone in places. It perhaps sets the scene for the later books which go on to catalogue Adrian’s adulthood, but sadly none of them are anywhere near as good as these first two.

Similar caveats apply to this book as to the first one – it’s (a) very, very English in its tone and style, and (b) very much of its time. You need to understand it in that context, particularly bearing in mind that much of Townsend’s writing was political in nature. Without knowing the basics of British culture, politics and society at the time, a lot will be lost, which I think is why a lot of American teenagers have given the Mole books such poor reviews. It’s also very much not a children’s or YA book – it was aimed squarely at adults when it was written.

Your mileage may vary with the later books in the series – mine certainly did – but these first two are absolutely wonderful, and classics of British literature. In fact, this one has given me a sudden brainwave for a writing project of my own, but Townsend has already set the bar very high indeed for adolescent angst in diary form.