Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction joke in the book is that Adrian does not know whether Mr Carlton-Hayes' partner Leslie is a man or a woman; this is never made clear. Although they are from different backgrounds, he and Adrian share an appreciation of literature, contempt for Michael Flowers, and a similar reservation about expressing their feelings. It is revealed in that Leslie is a man and implied they both left their wives for their relationship. Pauline is Adrian's mother, and plays less of a role in the story than in previous books. Like Adrian, Pauline is inclined to spend using money she hasn't got.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole place his parents would look and so runs away instead to Grimsby. Reviewing the book for "The Financial Times", Martin Seymour-Smith wrote that it was "quite as classic" as its predecessor. The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, a novel by Sue Townsend, is the 2nd book in the Adrian Mole series, following on from "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾". It focuses on the worries and regrets of a teenage aspiring intellectual. The novel is included in the omnibus "". The book is written in a diary style and set in 1982