1 March 1811. Today I fell in love. At the age of ten Miss Miranda Cheever showed no signs of ever becoming a Great Beauty. Her hair was lamentably brown her eyes the same muddy colour & her legs which were uncommonly long refused to learn anything which might remotely be called grace. Only in 1811 the nineteen-year-old Viscount Turner
- eldest brother of Miranda's closest friend
- had kissed the hand of an awkward ten-year-old girl & promised her that one day she'd be as beautiful as she was smart. Now eight years later Miranda is a woman grown & Turner an embittered widower. But she has never forgotten his kindness. Indeed it is only in her diary that she confides the truth: she has never stopped loving Turner & she has never stopped hoping that one day he will see her as more than a nave girl.

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It feels like only yesterday I was the youngest person in the room I had my whole life in front of me. I had time to burn I spent my whole day snogging boys & backcombing my hair. I was a young thing with a lovely body life was fun & I hadnt a care in the world. Now
- it feels like two minutes later
- Im a little bit old. OK Im not in elasticated stockings or on Meals on Wheels whizzing down the stairs on my stairlift but my life is more than half over. Ive been there done that got the packamac. Im so old that I remember dances with drum solos the arrival of unisex hairdressers & had a crush on Ilya Kuryakin. I am up at the top of the hill & over the other side again. What all this means is that I am grumpy. But Ive earnt it...I lived through Boney M & leg warmers & the Crossroads Motel. Obviously in a book this size I wouldnt be able to share with you ALL of my grumps. But Ive decided to write down some of the secret thoughts that beset a woman of a certain age some of the wicked things that occur to a woman who takes a lot of things to the dry cleaners has to have her roots done every four weeks & finds it hard to wear high heels. & guess what: they still fancy people still have silly little crushes on people at work still
- shock horror
- have sex. You will discover that women of a certain age are just as provocative & turned on as women in their twenties. Probably more so. So get over it. Middle-aged women are sexy funny & infinitely lovable. They are also taking over the world.



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The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 is the first book in Sue Townsend's brilliantly funny Adrian Mole series. Friday January 2nd I felt rotten today. It's my mother's fault for singing ' My Way' at two o'clock in the morning at the top of the stairs. Just my luck to have a mother like her. There is a chance my parents could be alcoholics. Next year I could be in a children's home. Meet Adrian Mole a hapless teenager providing an unabashed pimples-&-all glimpse into adolescent life. Writing candidly about his parents' marital troubles the dog his life as a tortured poet & 'misunderstood intellectual' Adrian's painfully honest diary is still hilarious & compelling reading thirty years after it first appeared. Bestselling author Sue Townsend has been Britain's favourite comic writer for over three decades. I not only wept I howled & hooted & had to get up & walk around the room & wipe my eyes so that I could go on reading". (Tom Sharpe). "A satire of our times. Very funny indeed". (Sunday Times). " We laugh both at Mole & with him. A wonderful comic read that like all the best comedy says something rather meaningful". (Heat). Sue Townsend is Britain's favourite comic author. Her hugely successful novels include eight Adrian Mole books The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (Aged 55 ) Number Ten Ghost Children The Queen & I Queen Camilla & The Woman Who Went to Bed For a Year all of which are highly acclaimed bestsellers. She has also written numerous well-received plays. She lives in Leicester where she was born & grew up." ...

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13" is the first book in Sue Townsends brilliantly funny " Adrian Mole" series. Friday January 2nd. I felt rotten today. Its my mothers fault for singing My Way at two oclock in the morning at the top of the stairs. Just my luck to have a mother like her. There is a chance my parents could be alcoholics. Next year I could be in a childrens home. Meet Adrian Mole a hapless teenager providing an unabashed pimples-&-all glimpse into adolescent life. Writing candidly about his parents marital troubles the dog his life as a tortured poet & misunderstood intellectual Adrians painfully honest diary is still hilarious & compelling reading thirty years after it first appeared. Bestselling author Sue Townsend has been Britains favourite comic writer for over three decades. "I not only wept I howled & hooted & had to get up & walk around the room & wipe my eyes so that I could go on reading". (Tom Sharpe). "A satire of our times. Very funny indeed". (" Sunday Times"). " We laugh both at Mole & with him. A wonderful comic read that like all the best comedy says something rather meaningful". (" Heat"). Sue Townsend is Britains favourite comic author. Her hugely successful novels include eight " Adrian Mole" books " The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (Aged 55 )" " Number Ten" " Ghost Children" " The Queen & I" " Queen Camilla" & " The Woman Who Went to Bed For a Year" all of which are highly acclaimed bestsellers. She has also written numerous well-received plays. She lives in Leicester where she was born & grew up." ...

Hes a total rock n roller. Theres a bit of Mario in all of us
- well maybe not Gary Neville
- but the rest of us most definitely.

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Meet Rebecca Bloomwood. She has a great flat a fabulous wardrobe full of the season's must-haves & a job telling other people how to manage their money. She spends her leisure time.. .shopping. Retail therapy is the answer to all her problems. She knows she should stop but she can't. She tries Cutting Back she tries Making More Money. But neither seems to work. The letters from the bank are getting harder to ignore. Can Becky ever escape from this dreamworld find true love & regain the use of her credit card? The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic"...this is the perfect pick-me-up for when it's all hanging in the (bank) balance." ...

Meet Rebecca Bloomwood. She has a great flat a fabulous wardrobe full of the season's must-haves & a job telling other people how to manage their money. She spends her leisure time.. .shopping. Retail therapy is the answer to all her problems. She knows she should stop but she can't. She tries Cutting Back she tries Making More Money. But neither seems to work. The letters from the bank are getting harder to ignore. Can Becky ever escape from this dreamworld find true love & regain the use of her credit card? The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic"...this is the perfect pick-me-up for when it's all hanging in the (bank) balance." ...

Blossom is planning a secret party for her best fairy friend Nettle
- its going to be the best party ever! This magical fairy book
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As the fall of France took place almost the entire coastline of Western Europe was in German hands. Clandestine sea transport operations provided lines of vital intelligence for wartime Britain. These secret flotillas" landed & picked up agents in & from France & ferried Allied evaders & escapees. This activity was crucial to the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) & the SOE (Special Operations Executive). This authoritative publication by the official historian the late Sir Brooks Richards vividly describes & analyses the clandestine naval operations that took place during WWII. The account has been made possible through Sir Brooks' access to closed government archives combined with his own wartime experiences & the recollections of many of those involved. First published in 1996 the original edition included descriptions of naval operations off French North Africa. The history has now been amended & expanded by Sir Brooks & is now published in two volumes. This first volume concentrates on the sea lines to Brittany. This authoritative publication by the official historian the late Sir Brooks Richards vividly describes & analyses the clandestine naval operations that took place during World War Two." ...

This authoritative publication by the official historian the late Sir Brooks Richards vividly describes & analyses the clandestine naval operations that took place during World War II. The account has been made possible through Sir Brooks' access to closed government archives combined with his own wartime experiences & the recollections of many of those involved. In addition to operations off French North Africa this second volume also

Includes:: descriptions of operations in the Adriatic around Italy. More than half of the 390 operations in Italian & adjacent waters were carried out by Italian vessels with Italian crews. It was a contribution to the Allied war effort which ought not to be forgotten.

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