Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years
By Sue Townsend
Michael Joseph £18.99, 416 pages
FT Bookshop price: £15.19

Many of us who have followed the diaries of Adrian Mole since he first appeared in 1982, aged 13¾, are now – just like him – middle-aged. In this eighth volume, we find him living in a converted piggery in a village outside Leicester, with second wife Daisy, a former London PR girl who hates her provincial life, and their wayward daughter Gracie.

New readers definitely should not start here because most of the book’s richness comes from our long familiarity with the wonderful supporting cast of characters, including Pandora Braithwaite MP, Adrian’s first (and only) true love.

The book is a funny mix of current UK events and everyday life, but the tone darkens as Adrian is diagnosed with prostate cancer. This makes for plenty of black humour and some moving passages as our anti-hero contemplates mortality. Whatever happens to Adrian next, Townsend’s fans will undoubtedly follow.