I must confess that I watched the Bridget Jones films long before reading ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’. I loved the movies (especially the first one with Hugh Grant) and so I put off reading the book because I thought that it would be more or less the same but eventually I read it and it turned out to be totally delightful in its own way.
The book revolves around Bridget Jones- a 30-something Singleton- whose life revolves around trying to lose weight and finding love. She is infatuated with her boss, Daniel Cleaver while her parents are trying to set her up with the recently divorced high profile lawyer, Mark Darcy who happens to be the son of their family friends. Bridget’s mother moves out from her home, finds a job in a television channel and gets into a relationship with Julio. Bridget and Daniel finally start dating but Bridget breaks up with him when she realizes that he is still seeing other women. Bridget decides to move on and gets a job in television. Mark helps her in securing a highly exclusive interview which builds up her reputation at the new job. Her mother’s boyfriend Julio scams her family friends out of their money. Mark not only helps in recovering some of the money but also gets Julio arrested. But all this while, he doesn’t contact Bridget and just when she starts to think that he is not interested in her, Mark appears on the scene and professes his love for Bridget.
The book is light hearted amusement. It is all about Bridget’s feelings and emotions written in the form of a diary. The book is a kind of outlet for Bridget who faces the pressure of singledom and crazy parents. Bridget is funny, honest and ultimately finds true love inspite of her average looks and her over weight. We all have insecurities and Bridget is no exception. Reading Bridget’s diary, one feels that ‘It’s ok not to be perfect’.
Since I’d already watched the movie, my reading experience was affected a little bit because I knew what to expect. But still I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to everyone who is looking for a feel-good book that will offer you a few chuckles.
Title: Bridget Jones’ Diary
Author: Helen Fielding
Series: Bridget Jones #1
Publisher: Penguin Books
Originally Published: 1996
Genre: Chick Lit
Page Count: 288
©2019 Shaloo Walia All rights reserved
Was a pleasure reading this as it is a sweet love story on the lines of our Hindi cinema. As I had not seen the film or known the contents of the book, enjoyed your take on it.
Thank you!
I have seen the movies and it was the only reason I put off reading this. But now your review makes me wonder if I should pick this up after all.
A book is always a delight a to read (even if we have seen the movie).