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Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding (Jonathan Cape)
The third instalment in the series introduces us to a 51-year-old (but 35 if anyone asks) widow with two kids trying to balance a new career, being a good mother, dealing with grief, her new toy boy lover, and twitter.
At first, Bridget seems virtually unrecognisable. Where is the chain-smoking, heavy drinking, unlucky in love Miss Jones we know and love? Well, she’s still there. She’s just a bit more grown up.
But that’s what grief does to you. If you haven’t heard by now (SPOILER ALERT), Mark Darcy, Bridget’s top lawyer husband, and father to her little Billy and Mabel, has died. And Bridget is still picking up the pieces 5 years on.
Many people were up in arms about this (although I think there were more upset about a major plotline being spoiled), and I suppose I was too. But, having dealt with grief myself in the past, and feeling such a kindred spirit to Bridget, it actually made me even more eager to read the book.
And even though you’ll probably spend the first 70 pages or so cursing Helen Fielding for doing this to our favourite anti-heroine, you’ll eventually realise that killing Mark off wasn’t just a way for the author to finish her book. Death is a reality, and the series has always found a funny way to deal with serious issues like sleeping with your boss, or being held for drug possession.
There are a few uncomfortably emotional bits – where you kind of want to reach into the pages of the book and shake Bridget back to reality, but, who can be rational all the time, right?
Thank God Bridge still has her friends though. Shazzer doesn’t make an appearance in this one, but Tom, Jude, and now Talitha are still there to give terrible advice, stumble drunkenly into her home at odd hours of the night, and introduce her to very odd dating sites.
And if you’ve ever felt like a complete idiot on social media, Bridget’s experience with Twitter will make you feel so much better about yourself. Once she actually figures out how it works, she obsesses about the amount of followers she has, and goes around awkwardly asking random strangers to follow her.
But there is one plus. After she figures it all out and manages to get a few followers, she meets a young man called Roxby McDuff who is 21 years her junior. They begin dating, and, of course, she goes about it the only way Bridget can. Obsessing over every little detail and wondering why he hasn’t replied to her text from 20 minutes ago.
And remember the smug marrieds? Well, they’re still a bit smug, but are taken down a notch when introduced to Bridget’s younger lover.
Oh, and Daniel Cleaver? He makes an appearance too. It’s a bit of a surprise, but I won’t spoil that for you too.
I’ve always loved Bridget Jones, and wondered what he life would be like after the happily ever after. And, as always, it’s bittersweet to turn that last page and close the book on a much loved character, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go back and read the entire series all over again, right?
So, all in all, Bridget is still the same woman we know and love, but she’s now so much more. Mad About The Boy is definitely worth the read whether you’re a die-hard fan like I am, or you’ve just stumbled onto the series for the first time.
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The third instalment in the series introduces us to a 51-year-old (but 35 if anyone asks) widow with two kids trying to balance a new career, being a good mother, dealing with grief, her new toy boy lover, and twitter.
At first, Bridget seems virtually unrecognisable. Where is the chain-smoking, heavy drinking, unlucky in love Miss Jones we know and love? Well, she’s still there. She’s just a bit more grown up.
But that’s what grief does to you. If you haven’t heard by now (SPOILER ALERT), Mark Darcy, Bridget’s top lawyer husband, and father to her little Billy and Mabel, has died. And Bridget is still picking up the pieces 5 years on.
Many people were up in arms about this (although I think there were more upset about a major plotline being spoiled), and I suppose I was too. But, having dealt with grief myself in the past, and feeling such a kindred spirit to Bridget, it actually made me even more eager to read the book.
And even though you’ll probably spend the first 70 pages or so cursing Helen Fielding for doing this to our favourite anti-heroine, you’ll eventually realise that killing Mark off wasn’t just a way for the author to finish her book. Death is a reality, and the series has always found a funny way to deal with serious issues like sleeping with your boss, or being held for drug possession.
There are a few uncomfortably emotional bits – where you kind of want to reach into the pages of the book and shake Bridget back to reality, but, who can be rational all the time, right?
Thank God Bridge still has her friends though. Shazzer doesn’t make an appearance in this one, but Tom, Jude, and now Talitha are still there to give terrible advice, stumble drunkenly into her home at odd hours of the night, and introduce her to very odd dating sites.
And if you’ve ever felt like a complete idiot on social media, Bridget’s experience with Twitter will make you feel so much better about yourself. Once she actually figures out how it works, she obsesses about the amount of followers she has, and goes around awkwardly asking random strangers to follow her.
But there is one plus. After she figures it all out and manages to get a few followers, she meets a young man called Roxby McDuff who is 21 years her junior. They begin dating, and, of course, she goes about it the only way Bridget can. Obsessing over every little detail and wondering why he hasn’t replied to her text from 20 minutes ago.
And remember the smug marrieds? Well, they’re still a bit smug, but are taken down a notch when introduced to Bridget’s younger lover.
Oh, and Daniel Cleaver? He makes an appearance too. It’s a bit of a surprise, but I won’t spoil that for you too.
I’ve always loved Bridget Jones, and wondered what he life would be like after the happily ever after. And, as always, it’s bittersweet to turn that last page and close the book on a much loved character, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go back and read the entire series all over again, right?
So, all in all, Bridget is still the same woman we know and love, but she’s now so much more. Mad About The Boy is definitely worth the read whether you’re a die-hard fan like I am, or you’ve just stumbled onto the series for the first time.
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook
Keen on reading this book? Buy your copy now.
Read this book yet? Tell us what you thought of the book in the comment box below.
Sign up for Women24 book club newsletter and stand a chance to win our top ten books from kalahari.com.
