Adrian Mole: The cappuccino years door Sue Townsend

Bibliographic information

Author : Sue Towsend
Title : Adrain Mole - the Cappucino Years
Year of publication : 1999
Number of pages : 391
Publisher : Micheal Joseph, London

Summary

This book is about Adrian Mole, who we all know from the book about him as a teenager (The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾, The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, Adrian Mole - The Wilderness Years). Adrain, now 30 ¼, is a celebrity chef at the Hoi Polloi in Soho. The book starts with his return to Leicester where he grew up to cast his vote for the ravishing new Labour Party candidate, Dr Pandora Braithwaite. Pandora is the love of his young life. Nowadays Adrian Mole is separated from his exotic and accomplished Nigerian wife, and is a single parent to his three-year-old son William. He works as a cook in a smart London restaurant that specializes in repulsive working-class food. He becomes a little bit famous when he get’s his own tv-show, where he has to cook repulsive working-class food. He’s also asked to write a book about the same subject. He fails completely in both of the opportunities. When, to his surprise, he finds he has an older son as well, he takes responsibility. He moves to Leicester. When an old man (who Adrain barely knew) dies, he leaves his house and its contents to Adrain Mole. He moves in together with his 2 sons and finally learns to cope. (216 words)

Character description

Pandora Braithwaite
Pandora Braithwaite is the most important woman is Adrian Mole’s life, except maybe for his mother, whom he is still frustrated about / mad at. Pandora is his first love and apparently the love of his life. Pandora used to be a socially moved, she took part in demonstrations against environment-threatening-plans etc. Now Pandora has turned into a real politician and she’s running for some important function in Britain politics. This book takes place in the election period, in which Pandora is trying to convince the public to give her their votes. To reach her goal, she despises her former ideals and tells lies to the people that are supposed to vote for her. She’s sort of a mean woman, in fact. I got the idea that she considers Adrian Mole more as a burden than as a friend (except when he can be usefull perhaps) and every contact they have is initiated by Adrian. Another thing different about this ‘new Pandora’ is the way she dresses. She has become very devoted to her appearance and her looks and she has turned into a real ‘Chanel-lady’ (by which I mean that she wears posh suits and skirts). (203 words)

Discussion

I want to discuss about this topic, that’s one of the most important issues in the book. It’s about parenthood. My topic is ‘as a parent, you must take your responsibilities’.

In the beginning of the story, Adrain has one son, called William. William lives with his grandparents, who are always fighting. So he’s not living with his father, Adrian Mole. I think that is a shame! Adrain doesn’t take his responsibility. The next quotation supports my opinion;‘It’s been three weeks since I saw my son’ (p. 13). It’s wrong to see your own child once in three weeks, when you are a parent.
Beside that, it’s very sad for the child when the mother is not around. In a letter, written by the mother, Jo Jo, is said; ‘I am sorry to tell you that Adrain and I are getting a divorce’ (p. 15). That means, that the child grows up in the house of his grandparents. I don’t think that is the right situation for William to grow up.
Especially because his grandparents are getting separated. This news has been introduced on page 175, in the lines ‘I’m sorry to have to tell you this, George, but I’m in love with your wife’ and a few lines further ‘I watched my father’s face age as the realisation dawned that his wife was in love with somebody else, and that that someone else was Ivan Braithwaite, a family friend.’
Thank God, at the end of the book, Adrain Mole does take his responsibilities, and lives with his sons in one house of his own. He realises his role as a parent; ‘I have often wondered how I would stand up against fire, flood and tempest. Would I run in panic and try to save my own life? Until tonight I suspect that I would do exactly that. But when I woke to that exploding glass and the chocking smoke and the sharp flames on the stairs, I found that my own life was unimportant to me. Nothing else mattered apart from removing my sons from danger.’ (p.391). And I’m glad he did. (353 words)