Nov 17, 2025
Richard and Claire are joined by novelist David Nicholls to consider Sue Townsend’s 1982 novel The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾.
For the fifth episode of the Working Class Library, the novelist David Nicholls joins Claire Malcolm, CEO of New Writing North, and Richard Benson, editor of The Bee, and to discuss Sue Townsend’s 1982 novel The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾.
Having initially been written for, and broadcast on, BBC Radio 4,* The Secret Diary* was the United Kingdom’s bestselling book of the 1980s, and to date has sold over twenty million copies, and been translated into almost fifty languages. It t…
Nov 17, 2025
Richard and Claire are joined by novelist David Nicholls to consider Sue Townsend’s 1982 novel The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾.
For the fifth episode of the Working Class Library, the novelist David Nicholls joins Claire Malcolm, CEO of New Writing North, and Richard Benson, editor of The Bee, and to discuss Sue Townsend’s 1982 novel The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾.
Having initially been written for, and broadcast on, BBC Radio 4,* The Secret Diary* was the United Kingdom’s bestselling book of the 1980s, and to date has sold over twenty million copies, and been translated into almost fifty languages. It transformed the fortunes of Townsend, who had previously lived in dire poverty as a single mother after being born into south Leicester working class.
Many readers and writers who grew up with the novel name it as a major influence on them, and in the podcast, superfan David Nicholls considers how and why this is. Together, hosts and guest together show why if anything, Mole is underrated as a work of literature. Finally, we ask if it deserves a place on the shelves of our imaginary library of great books by and about ordinary people.
Intellectual thoughts? Comments worthy of a letter to the BBC? Please share them with us on our social media channels, and we’ll tell the world — thank you.** **
Books and Authors Mentioned
Douglas Adams – The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice Emily Bronte – Wuthering Heights Pedro Calderón – Life is a Dream Charles Darwin – On the Origin of Species Simone De Beauvoir – The Second Sex E.M. Delafield – The Diary of a Provincial Lady Charles Dickens – Great Expectations Helen Fielding – Bridget Jones’ Diary Gustave Flaubert – Madame Bovary Germaine Greer – The Female Eunuch George & Weedon Grosmith – The Diary of a Nobody Thomas Hardy – Far From the Madding Crowd, Tess of the D’Urbevilles Blake Morrison – When Did You Last See Your Father?David Nicholls – One Day, Starter for Ten, Us, You are Here David Nobbs – The Fall and Rise of Reginal Perrin Edward St Aubyn – the Patrick Melrose novels Leo Tolstoy – War and Peace Sue Townsend – The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ Keith Waterhouse – Billy Liar Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle – the Molesworth books
All donations go towards supporting the Bee’s mission to nurture, publish promote and pay for the best new working-class writing.