Our favourite hapless heroine is back. The trailer for Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy has just been released, giving fans a first look at what will entail.
The opening few seconds reveal Mark Darcy’s fate (the book’s author Helen Fielding had previously said that she decided to write him out of the third title in her series as she didn’t want Bridget to be a “smug married” type) and sees Hugh Grant reprising his role as Lothario Daniel Cleaver.
Alongside familiar faces, we’ve got a glimpse of the new love interest: Leo Woodall who joins the cast alongside Emma Thompson,12 Years A Slave’s Chiwetel Ejiofor and Isla Fisher.
The film is based on Fielding’s novel of the same name and is set for release on 14 February in the UK. If you can’t wait until then though, we’ve got all the details on the book it’s based on below – plus, how to read the whole series in order.
‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ by Helen Fielding, published by Picador
A book that needs little introductin, the first in the series was published in 1996 and became an instant international bestseller. Written in the form of a personal diary, the novel evolved from Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary columns in The Independent and The Daily Telegraph. Roughly based on Jane Austen’s 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice, it follows Bridget as she navigates her love life over the course of a year in two romantic relationships.
The first is with her charming and handsome boss – and famous womanise –Daniel Cleaver. Her second is with an old childhood playmate and slightly uptight human rights barrister Mark Darcy.
As she navigates her chaotic dating life, Bridget convenes with her three best friends, Shazzer, Jude and Tom, over (many) bottles of chardonnay. Funny, relatable and expertly capturing the zeitgeist of being a woman in your Twenties, it’s a classic of the comedy genre.
Buy now £9.39, Amazon.co.uk
‘Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason’ by Helen Fielding, published by Picador
The second book in the series, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason sees the main character depart Notting Hill for Thailand on a journey of self-discovery. Still working as a TV host and dating Mark Darcy, Bridget begins to feel jealous and paranoid about the time Mark spends with his younger, attractive co-worker, Rebecca.
In the wake of their eventual break-up, Bridget accepts a freelance assignment in Rome, before joining her friend Shazza on holiday in Thailand. In classic Jones style, chaos ensues in South East Asia, involving charming men on planes, stolen money and many misunderstandings.
Buy now £9.39, Amazon.co.uk
‘Bridget Jones’s Baby: The Diaries’ by Helen Fielding, published by Picador
Unlike the other books in the series, Bridget Jones’s Baby was published after the 2016 movie adaptation was released. Chronologically, it’s the third book in the series.
The novel follows Bridget accidentally falling pregnant and not knowing who the father is. Of course, the two candidates are the honourable and kind Mark Darcy and the witty but womanising Daniel Cleaver. As she rushes towards the baby-deadline while mediating the hatred the two men have towards each other, the comedy tome explores the havoc, pregnancy and childbirth in Jones’s familiar voice.
Buy now £9.19, Amazon.co.uk
‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’ by Helen Fielding, published by Picador
The fourth book in the series and the latest to be adapted for the big screen, Mad About The Boy follows Bridget as she grapples with single motherhood in the wake of Mark Darcy’s death in a landmine accident. Set nearly 20 years on from the first novel, both the cultural and sexual landscapes are vastly different, with Bridget now contending with the internet, texting and Botox.
Beginning four years after Mark’s death, any moments of darkness are balanced with brevity as Jones returns to the much-changed dating scene. Just as characteristically hapless and clumsy as she was in her Twenties, it’s a rollicking story of a woman in midlife navigating both dating and motherhood in the internet age. We can’t wait to see how it will be adapted for the screen – roll on 2025.
Buy now £8.69, Amazon.co.uk
Need more reading inspiration? Check out our round-up of this season’s must-read novels
