A Good Read
Bridget Jones - Mad about the Boy So Bridget is back. This time with kids and without husband - not really a spoiler, unless you have been living under a rock for the last year. Mark Darcy is dead, and our heroine is left to ‘keep buggering on’ in her own inimitable fashion.
Most of the headlines as the book was published last year, focused on Darcy’s demise and on the fact that Bridget has found a toyboy. It is the fi rst of these points that sets the tone of the book, which opens four years after the event, tempering the typical comic misunderstandings that result from a return to the dating scene with a resounding sense of the intense sadness of widowhood. Mark Darcy is a constant presence, either in Bridget’s own reminiscences or in the careful eff orts of others to avoid mentioning him.
The format is the same as the previous two volumes, (surely there is no-one left in the country who hasn’t read them?). Bridget still counts the calories and has added an obsession with collecting Twitter followers. Some of the old faces are still there too. Jude and Tom continue to provide advice and alcohol, whilst Daniel Cleaver is a not-quite-reformed godfather to Billy and Mabel. And Bridget’s mum may have retired, but is far from retiring...
Of course, the plot twists may be obvious from the outset, but as ever, the fact that we genuinely care about the characters keeps us reading and keeps us involved. Some readers may never forgive Helen Fielding for spoiling our illusions that Bridget and Mark Darcy would live happily ever after, but others will fi nd this both amusing, moving and, at times, uplifting.
Maps Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski
Every home should have a good atlas - for a child there is little better than travelling the world by turning the pages. ‘Maps’ is not exactly an atlas, but for any child wanting to embark on their own adventure of the imagination, it is an absolute must have.
For a start it is a big book – in A3 format, almost designed for lying on the fl oor and gazing at. Each page covers a country, with beautiful illustrations of key cities, wildlife, landmarks and peoples. Two children from that country feature, and there are facts about languages and population. Quite simply, you could stare at each page for hours.
William Morris famously said that you should have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. This book is both. Buy it.
28 To advertise in thewire t. 07720 429 613 e.
the.wire@btinternet.com
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