bridget jones’s diary 3: she’s back!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Bridget Jones is one of the most recognisable and loveable characters in modern novels and films. And author and creator Helen Fielding has revealed that the third novel concerning the life of Ms. Jones is to be released in October this year, entitled Mad About The Boy. This is the first Bridget Jones book released in fourteen years, with the first book, Bridget Jones’ Diary, published in 1996, and its sequel, The Edge of Reason, published in 1999.

According to Fielding, we should expect to see an older, if not wiser, Bridget, in a ‘totally new phase of life’. Perhaps the biggest change to expect of modern Bridget is her use of social media and technology, as an extract from the book reveals some of Bridget’s advice for and lament of modern-day dating:

You see, this is the trouble with the modern world. If it was the days of letter-writing, I would never have even started to find his address, a pen, a piece of paper, an envelope, a stamp and gone outside at 11:30pm to find a postbox.

A text is gone at the brush of a fingertip, like a nuclear bomb or Exocet missile. Dating Rule No 1: Do not text when drunk.

Of course, another reason why Bridget has become so popular is due to the film adaptations in 2001 and 2004 respectively, which starred Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. The popularity of the films shows just how far Bridget has come in her development as a character. Considering she started in Fielding’s newspaper column in The Independent in the mid-1990s, it shows just how successful Fielding has been with the image of Bridget. Her evolution, even through the books alone, can be seen when comparing the original front cover to its more recognisable cover.

Perhaps the success of the Bridget Jones brand can be attributed to her unluckiness and the universal misfortune that appeals to an anti-heroine demographic; somebody who is celebrated and memorable for her flaws rather than in spite of them. Perhaps, just as Mark Darcy does, the public loves Bridget “just the way she is.” Or perhaps it’s the original strong connection to Pride and Prejudice that entices us.

Whatever it is, the reading public is no doubt eagerly awaiting the upcoming (mis)adventures of a modern, texting-and-Tweeting Bridget Jones.