Adrian Mole, twice-married, father of 3, writer, intellectual, bookshop worker, frequent urinator. He lives next door to his parents in a renovated pigsty. Although he doesn’t always agree with their choices, he does love them and helps take care of his father, who has been in a wheelchair since he had his stroke. He lives in Leicestershire, in the middle of England. It’s where he was born and grew up, and after spending several years in London as a younger man, he is back home where he seems to belong.

He is married to Daisy, a beautiful Mexican-English woman with strong opinions, and their daughter Gracie is a free-thinker who keeps getting in trouble at preschool for not wearing her uniform. Adrian works in the town’s bookshop, and is currently writing a play for the locals to put on, a 60-role work of historical fiction, Plague. And he’s having some health concerns, so he tries in vain to make an appointment with his doctor. After he goes to an after-hours clinic and finally makes it to his doctor’s office for a follow-up, he is faced with the bad news: prostate cancer.

As he considers his options, family and friends gather near to help. He gets in more help at the bookshop, his mother offers to take his to his radiation treatments, and Daisy gets a job to help with the expenses. He has to set aside his work on Plague for the time being, but everyone in town is quick to ask him about his prostrate cancer (after a few times, he stops correcting them) and to offer words of kindness.

And all of it is captured in his diary.

The last in the series of the beloved Adrian Mole diaries, Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years finishes the journey that we started with Adrian back when he was only 13 3/4. Author Sue Townsend brings the tale full circle, with Adrian learning how to love his life, love his parents, and love his future.

I have read all of the Adrian Mole books, most of them several times, and I never tire of spending time with Adrian and his friends and family. For Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years, I listened to the audio book, and narrator Mark Hadfield brought the story to life for me in the most enjoyable way.

If you’re not familiar with Adrian Mole, I’d suggest you start at the beginning, but you don’t have to. Each of these 8 books is a masterpiece of dry English understatement, of family and all its complications, and of one man’s secret thoughts. Each book is moving, charming, funny, frustrating, and perfectly lovely, and now that I’ve reached the end (again), I’ll just have to go back to the beginning and start all over again.