I'm getting to the end of my magnifying glasses now. One eye's gone completely. The other is gradually dimming. Dimming - that sounds very dramatic, doesn't it? I'm so lucky. I can still make a living - and the same kind of living. Sue Townsend completelydimdramatic share on social
I do think that books, good books, free you. They make you feel a citizen of the world and things like class, sex and age don't matter. They're the greatest leveler. Sue Townsend agebookcitizen Change image and share on social
I never imagined when I began writing in the early 1960s I'd become professional and my life would be transformed. Sue Townsend 1960sbeginearly Change image and share on social
Being poor with three small children is terrifying. You can't make any plans. You know you're not going on holiday, ever. There's no way you could ever afford driving lessons or a car. And the guilt I used to feel: they had holes in their shoes, and at one point, I had to send them to school wearing Wellingtons when the sun was shining. Sue Townsend affordcarchild share on social
I'm spectacularly disorganised. I wrote my latest book in seven different notebooks scattered throughout my house. Sue Townsend bookdisorganisehouse Change image and share on social
I always have this image of a woman running across a desert carrying children, trying to find water and food, not knowing when they'll get that. And her feet are slashed up from the dry, hard earth... Even when I'm uncomfortable, sometimes in pain, or just cold... I think, 'Thank God for what I've got.' Sue Townsend carrychildcold share on social
People down on their luck deserve the best: beautiful surroundings and well-paid professional staff to help them out of their difficulties. Why not train thousands more social workers and let them sit in on claimants' interviews? Sue Townsend beautifulclaimantdeserve share on social
I must have been a very strange child. I was very pretentious. Like Adrian Mole. Sue Townsend adrianchildmole Change image and share on social
I married two weeks after my 18th birthday, far too young, and by the time I was 23 I was a single mother of three small children, Sean, Daniel and Victoria, living in a prefab house. Sue Townsend 18thbirthdaychild Change image and share on social