Fielding’s first novel sparks renewed interest

  Penguin Books Helen Fielding, author of
"Bridget Jones’s Diary."

By Maegan Carberry
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

“Bridget Jones’s Diary” lovers will have an
opportunity to fall head over heels for a new Helen Fielding
heroine with the rerelease of Fielding’s first novel,
“Cause Celeb,” stacking shelves this month.

Fielding, who will appear at Book Soup in Hollywood this
Thursday and other Los Angeles bookstores for book signings, has
enjoyed much success after her books “Bridget Jones’s
Diary” and “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason”
sold over 4 million copies worldwide. The books were also made into
a feature film starring Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin
Firth last year.

The Jones chronicles were actually Fielding’s second and
third books, respectively. Her first novel, “Cause
Celeb,” received little attention before Bridget went big,
but is now making a name for itself in Bridget’s
afterglow.

“People always say how Bridget Jones is so trivial and
silly. She only talks about calories and boys,” Fielding said
in a phone interview from her home in Los Angeles. “I always
want to say, “˜Well, my first book was about a woman running a
refugee camp in Africa, but no one wanted to buy that
one.'”

Though the plot of “Cause Celeb” is meatier than the
story of self-discovery and love told in “Bridget
Jones’s Diary,” the endearing frazzled female character
is still present in the form of Rosie Richardson, a glitzy London
woman who moves to Africa to work at a refugee camp.

In fact, when the two voices are hard to distinguish from each
other at times, readers may wonder why a Bridget Jones-type has
moved to Africa. But Fielding, who spent time in African refugee
camps as a journalist in the 1980s, says that Rosie’s
character is not unreasonable.

“Neither Rosie nor Bridget are that unusual. They have
normal female preoccupations. During my experience in Africa,
relief workers are still thinking about boys and how they look.
It’s just about putting them in context,” Fielding
said.

But aside from any odd similarities arising between the two
characters because of Rosie’s eccentricities, “Cause
Celeb” relies much more heavily on its powerful story than it
does on a powerful heroine, as “Bridget Jones’s
Diary” does. Based on Fielding’s own experience, the
book juxtaposes life in London’s celebrity circle with the
harsh reality of life in Africa during war and famine.

“It brings out the unfairness of the situation where one
half of the world is trying to lose weight while the other half of
the world is trying to find enough to eat so it won’t
starve,” Fielding said. “There are so many ironies in
the situation, and so much fun in the midst of all the tragedy that
I knew it would be a great subject for a book.”

Fielding also hopes to dispel many presumptions people in the
Western world have about those living in refugee camps.

“The refugees are not just a mass of people like you see
on television, but individuals. They were educated and they knew
what they needed to do to get help,” Fielding said. “I
remember one man who finished a TV interview who looked up and
said, “˜How’d I do?’ He knew how important it was
to convey their plight to people watching on TV.”

It was also important that Fielding show how people in both the
worlds she depicted, the wealthy and the impoverished, needed each
other. Fielding says the relationship between the refugee workers
and the Africans during her time there was “symbiotic.”
While the Africans needed food and medical aid, the workers learned
a lesson about their own souls and life motivations.

If readers are looking for a repeat of “Bridget
Jones” in “Cause Celeb,” they’re not going
to get it; they are different books with different implications.
“Cause Celeb” is more than entertainment, or one of
Bridget’s self-help books.

However, fans who have faith in Fielding are not concerned about
the change in subject matter.

“Fielding’s writing style makes for a fast paced
read,” said Amy Golod, a fourth-year English student.
“Since I loved both Bridget Jones books so much, I look
forward to reading another book by her.”

LITERATURE: Helen Fielding will visit Book Soup
in West Hollywood this Thursday at 8 p.m., Borders on the Third
Street Promenade on March 19 at 7 p.m. and Barnes & Noble in
Encino on March 26 at 7:30 p.m.