Mumsnet Talk

By Sue Townsend.

I have just finished it and have to say I am a tad disappointed!! I didn't really like the main character and felt her reasons for staying in bed were fairly lame. Her children were also entirely unlikable and came to a weird end.... infact all the characters were unlikable apart from Alexander whose only flaw was that for some unfathomable reason he loved Eva!!

What did you make of it?

Yes I've read it and like you ended up feeling disappointed. I found all of the characters annoying, especially Eva, but I don't always have to like the characters to enjoy a book iykwim. It was the story itself which I thought was a let down. I don't know what I expected, but it just didn't go anywhere. Which maybe is to be expected when it's about a woman staying in bed for a year?

I'm unsure how I feel about the ending, it just sort of fizzled to a stop. What were we supposed to think the reason for it all was?

Yes know exactly what you mean, I was unsure what the point was She seemed to feel very sorry for herself but not able to take any responsibility for the fact that her husband is an idiot and her kids completely dysfunctional!!!

Agree you don't have to like a character to enjoy a book but it helps if you can in someway sympathise or relate to them and I found I couldn't at all.

I agree. I was really underwhelmed. I didn't like any of the characters,and found the twins singularly annoying.

Also agree, read it because I really enjoy Sue Townsend.

Found I was recognising characters, names and phrases from past books.

Felt it was a bit "ooh, suppose I should write a book, not done one for a while" or maybe I'm just being unkind?

i was ok until the ending, and then i though, wtf?

total damp squib, it was shit.

I'm waiting until it comes down to 20p which it will do eventually

I've just finished it. I loved it until the end. What a disappointment! I have been raving about it to my friends and am now embarrassed to pass it on.

I hated the way her mother was dealt with. Sounded like she had breast cancer. It was mentioned several times and by the end had she found time to go to the doctors or not?

very disappointing, I thought. the ending was just as though she's run out of things to do with the plot and the twins morphed from pathetic outsiders to sinister telepaths from one page to another.

I started it and gave up after a couple of chapters. Anyone want to PM me the ending so I have closure? I hate not finishing books, but have decided life is too short to plough on.

It was underwhelming from start to finish. I had hoped for more from Sue Townsend.

Damp squib

Agree- I read it cos I loooooooved Adrian Mole. It was shit. Disappointed.

Utter rubbish!! We did it for book group and no one liked it! I started off enjoying it, but it just became ludicrous. There were way too many sub plots, and the ending was as if she got bored, or ran out of time. Defintely not recommended!

All of the above from me too!

I enjoyed it at first so kept going... But when it finished i felt like screaming because i had wasted my time!

I agree about the twins carlajean they ended up being weird and sinister and i almost felt like it suggested they were falling in love with each other... It was odd

I love Sue Townsend, I have been in love with Adrian Mole since I was 1 and a half and he was 13 and three quarters. I have grown up with Adrian and been educated by the socio-political satires, No 10, Queen and I etc.

With 2 small dc, a job and MN I get very little time to read. I plodded through TWWWTBFAY and kept waiting for it to pick up. It never did and suddenly it had finished. Eh? It was awful, no real story, characters were unlikeable and unbelievable, it had nothing to say and wasn't even funny. The whole thing with the "how am I going to use the loo" was really rather nasty, why not just go straight for the sheet on the floor thing if it needed explaining at all. I have no idea where they got the cover quote "I howled with laughter" on the front, and can't even go an look because I threw it away when I'd finished.

Sorry Sue, massive fail.

Can we have an "Adrian Mole - Coalition Years" please ?

The Telegraph, Guardian, Mail etc.

Oh, I was fine but what happened to the poor Chinese lad? Was poppy pregnant? It felt very unfinished.

I loved Titania and Brian's affair, I could just imagine them over a telescope.

For me it was the end. I didn't understand it at all!

Me too! I thought bits of it were brilliant but thought the end was rushed & wasn't a good enough conclusion. Hopefully Townsend will read this & write a sequel

Aargh, when I say I have been in love with Adrian Mole since I was 1 and a half, I mean 12 and a half.

Agree, really have loved all of Sue Townsend's books, but this was dire.

Found lots of similar characters, names, and situations from her other books.

But reading the back cover, I found out she has had a pretty tough time with her health in the last few years, and maybe this is just ST getting back into the saddle.

Yes I was disappointed the blurb sounded made it sound promising- as did the title!