Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years (3.5/5)

Oh Sue Townsend, how you tease us. In 2007, fans witnessed Adrian Mole hitting 40, and seemingly left him a content, if unsatisfied man working in a bookstore with a wife who said "who would ever read your diary" (oh, the irony!), and his son proudly fighting in Afghanistan. That was how Adrian Mole and the Weapons Of Mass Destruction culminated three years ago, however it turns out not where the series finished: Adrian Mole The Prostrate Years was released this summer, and picks up where Weapons left off, only casting Mole with more problems than ever before: cancer, the return of Pandora into his life, and the book-shop facing huge financial problems and soon threatening to close down. This may sound more than a little depressing, and in a sense it is, but that only adds to the likeability of Prostrate Years (not to be taken literally, of course), as well as the satirical humour, cutting references and tear-jerking ending the recent diaries of the now 42-year-old Adrian have been known for. Without spoiling it, the Moles seem in a much happier place than they were when we saw them in 2007 this time around, and though it's all-but-confirmed the story will continue next year, this would be a great end to the saga. Old flaws, however, do rear their ugly heads: the genuine appeal found with the original Aged 13 3/4 novel is near-totally lost now, so teenagers who have been avidly following Mole's exploits may find themselves lost here. Perhaps, though, given that since The Capuccino Years this has pretty much been the case, fans won't mind- we'll see!