BOOK REVIEW: Bridget Jones's Baby by Helen Fielding

8.45pm Realise there have been so many times in my life when have fantasised about going to a scan with Mark and Daniel, just not with both at the same time.
Before motherhood, before marriage, Bridget, with biological clock ticking very, very loudly, finds herself unexpectedly pregnant at the eleventh hour: a joyful pregnancy which is dominated, however, by a crucial but terribly awkward question- who is the father? ,Mark Darcy: honourable, decent, notable human rights lawyer? Or Daniel Cleaver: charming, witty, notable fuckwit?
9:45pm It's like they're two halves of the perfect man, who'll spend the rest of their lives each wanting to outdo the other one. And now it's all enacting itself in my stomach.
In this gloriously funny, touching story of baby-deadline panic, maternal bliss and social, professional. culinary and childbirth chaos, Bridget Jones- global phenomenon and the world's favourite singleton- is back with a bump.

Publisher: Jonathan Cape

Pages: 216

I actually saw the film before I read the book and I can report that both are fantastic. They are slightly different too, in the film Daniel Cleaver is not one of the possible fathers so it was particularly lovely to have him back in the book, arguing again with
Mark Darcey.
Bridget is older but not necessarily wiser in this book. She has sex with both Mark and Daniel using dolphin-friendly eco condoms so now she's expecting a baby but does not know who the father is. She ends up telling them both in the hope that one of them will stand up to the plate but as usual Bridget is left in a bit of a mess as things don't go to plan.
Funny, poignant and hugely enjoyable, Bridget Jones's Baby is a fantastic book from Helen Fielding, she certainly hasn't lost her touch.

Book review: Mad about The Boy by Helen Fielding

What do you do when a girlfriend's 60th Birthday party is the same day as your boyfriend's 30th?Is it wrong to lie about your age when online dating?
Is it morally wrong to have a blow dry when one of your children has head lice?
Does the Dalai Lama actually tweet or is it his assistant?
Is technology now the fifth element or is that wood?
Is sleeping with someone after two dates and six weeks of texting the same as getting married after 2 meetings and 6 months of letter writing in Jane Austen's day?
Pondering these, and other modern dilemmas, Bridget Jones stumbles through the challenges of single motherhood, tweeting, texting and rediscovering her sexuality in what SOME people rudely and out datedly call 'middle age'.

I usually write my review as soon as I have finished a book so that it is all fresh in my mind. However, I have given myself a few days to think about Mad about The Boy. I love Helen Fielding's books and have a huge soft spot for Bridget so I wanted to be truly sure that I had enjoyed this book rather than simply enjoying meeting up with a much loved Mad about The Boy. It was fantastic to meet up with Bridget again but I also enjoyed the story that Helen Fielding has created.
character. But after much thought I have decided that I did very much enjoy
Mark Darcey is no more, I won't go into why but Bridget is  now a single mother to Mabel and Billy. She misses Mark every single day and there were several times where I had tears in my eyes. But Bridget's friends have decided that it is time to get back out there and online dating seems the best way. This is a mine field for Bridget as you can imagine but she does get a date so we get to go along for the ride as she gets to tackle modern day dating; will she ever get over Mark and is it really bad to lie about her age?
Helen Fielding has brought Bridget up to date and so quite a lot of the book involves Bridget texting and tweeting. At first this slightly irritated me but then I realised that it is actually very realistic.
I loved Bridget as a mother; there were so many situations that I identified with. Bridget is very much muddling along as well all do and she is terrified of getting it wrong. Mabel and Billy bring so much humour to the book but they also serve to highlight Bridget's situation. She is incredibly lonely and I just wanted someone to come along and help her out.
In some ways I would have liked Bridget and Mark's story to be left as it was with them living happily ever after. But life isn't like that and Mad about The Boy gives us another whole book's worth of Bridget so I'm not complaining!

Dot Scribbles Rating: 4/5

Publisher: Jonathan Cape

Pages: 400