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Susan Lillian "Sue" Townsend, FRSL (2 April 194610 April 2014) was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole. After writing in secret from the age of 14, Townsend first became known for her plays, her signature character first appearing in a radio drama, but her work soon expanded into other forms. She enjoyed great success in the 1980s, with her Adrian Mole books selling more copies than any other work of fiction in Britain during the decade. This series, which eventually encompassed nine books, takes the form of the character's diaries. The earliest books recount the life of a teenage boy during the Thatcher years, but the sequence eventually depicts Adrian Mole in middle age. ''The Queen and I'' (1992), another popular work which was well received, was an outlet for her republican sentiments, although the Royal Family is still rendered with sympathy. Both the earliest Adrian Mole book and ''The Queen and I'' were adapted for the stage and enjoyed successful runs in London's West End. Townsend was poor until well into her thirties, and used her experiences of hardship in her work. In her later years she suffered ill health, in part related to the diabetes she developed in the mid-1980s, and in her last years endured serious sight and mobility problems. ==Early life== Townsend was born in Leicester, the eldest of five sisters.〔〔 (Some sources, including the BBC News obituary, have Townsend as the oldest of three daughters).〔("Obituary: Sue Townsend" ), BBC News, 11 April 2014〕 Her father had worked at a factory making jet engines before becoming a postman, while her mother worked in a factory canteen.〔(Obituary: Sue Townsend ), ''Daily Telegraph'', 11 April 2014〕 She attended Glen Hills Primary School, where the school secretary was Mrs. Claricotes, a name she used for the school secretary in the Adrian Mole books. At the age of eight, Townsend contracted mumps, and was obliged to stay at home. Her mother bought a collection of Richmal Crompton's Just William books at a jumble sale which Townsend read avidly. Later, she said the William Brown character was an influence on her best known creation.〔Marcus Williamson ("Sue Townsend obituary: Author whose hapless, brilliantly drawn teenage hero, Adrian Mole, made her the best selling author of the 1980s" ), ''The Independent'', 11 April 2014〕 After failing her 11-plus exam, Townsend went to the secondary modern South Wigston High School.〔 〕 During her childhood, while up a tree playing with her peers, she witnessed the murder of a fellow schoolgirl, but the children were not believed.〔Ann Donald ("To meet one of life's naturals" ), ''The Herald'', 23 October 1999〕 Townsend left school at the age of 15 and worked in a variety of jobs including packer for Birds Eye, a petrol station attendant and a receptionist.〔Iain Hollingshead ("Sue Townsend: the difficult years" ), ''Daily Telegraph'', 27 February 2012〕 Working at a petrol station allowed her the chance to read between serving customers.〔("Interview: Secret passions of a republican mole: Sue Townsend explains why she killed off the Queen Mother in a council house" ), ''The Independent'', 1 September 1992〕 She married Keith, a sheet-metal worker at 18; the couple had three children under five by the time Townsend was 23 (Sean, Daniel and Victoria), at which point the marriage ended and she became a single parent.〔Susan Mansfield ("Obituary: Sue Townsend, author" ), ''The Scotsman'', 12 April 2014〕 In this position, Townsend and her children endured considerable hardship. In ''Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State'' (1989), a short book in the ''Counterblasts'' series, she recounts an experience from when her eldest child was five. Because social security were unable to give her 50p to tide them over, she was obliged to feed herself and her children on a tin of peas and an oxo cube as an evening meal.〔Sue Townsend ("Sue Townsend: how the welfare state left me and my kids scouring the streets for pennies" ), ''The Observer'', 13 April 2014. Extract from ''Mr Bevan's Dream'', first published in ''The Observer'' in 1989.〕 While employed as a supervisor at an adventure playground she observed a man making canoes nearby and, because he was married, put off talking to him, and it was a year before he asked her for a date.〔 It was at a canoeing course she met her future second husband, Colin Broadway, and the father of her fourth child, Elizabeth.〔Kate Kellaway (Obituary: Sue Townsend ), ''The Guardian'', 11 April 2014〕 Subsequently, she became pregnant twice more, but underwent abortions. Ultimately, Townsend came to believe that termination is wrong. ''Ghost Children'' (1997) is a novel which draws on these experiences.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sue Townsend」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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