Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding

Review by Gerti

I love Bridget Jones and I'm not afraid to say it.  I'll shout it if you need me to.  I love Bridget Jones, and I love the many books (3 now) that Helen Fielding has penned about her wacky adventures.  I love that Bridget keeps track of the same crazy things I do--calories, weight, etc., but I also love that she keeps track of things I never do--like alcohol consumed or boyfriends shagged.  Having her be similar to me in some ways and different in others means I can laugh with her, and AT her, at different times, but always with the utmost affection.

In her previous diaries, Bridget had two wonderful men after her, including mark Darcy (played by Colin Firth in the movie version) which totally makes me love him, too.  Her former boss Daniel was played by Hugh Grant, and there are not two British men in the world that I adore more than Firth and Grant.  So even as I read about their adventures, in my mind I can see their gloriously handsome faces, and imagine their endearing mannerisms.  Yes, I do have it bad, than you very much.

Bridget Jones to me now is also the actress, Renee Zellweger, so as she gets her white coat stained by her daughter's hot chocolate before a major school even, I see her face, and that makes it all so much more intimate.  It's like watching the adventures of a friend, a clumsy, humorous, accident-prone, self-doubting, weak-willed friend whom I love.So in this book, "Mad about the Boy", I am not totally put off it becausd mark Darcy has died tragically.  Like helping a widow through hter days of grief, I stuck by Bridget as she tied to take care of their two kids, and make a new life for herself among the ashes.  I loved how she tried to engage with the modern world, tweeting, getting on FB (or not), and dealing with all the uber-moms at the children's school.  I liked how she found a young man to date, but saw the plot twist coming when an older man (equally buff, though. Bridget doesn't date ugly men!) from her son's school became her friend.

In short I love Helen Fielding's writing style, and this story, and while there are a lot of things happening to the English language in England that don't really click with Americans like me (who don't spend time overseas), you catch on eventually, even to unusual terms like Spag Bog (Spaghetti Bolognese).  Yes, it's apparently one of England's most popular meals, and Bridget's kids love to eat it.  those touches give the book its unique flair, and while I missed Darcy, I was rooting for Bridget to succeed at putting her life back together, and she has.  By the end, she's got a better relationship with her Mom, her Neighbors, even the most put-together mom at school as she finds out everyone is just bumbling along, despite appearances to the contrary.

I'm told they are working on the movie version of this book, but Hugh Grant refused to be in it, which is a sham.  If the movie is even half as fun as reading the booi, consider my ticket already bought.