Bridget Jones's Diary (1996)
Bridget Jones's Diary is a 1996 single women book written by Helen Fielding.
A year in the life of Bridget Jones, thirty-something, single, and living in London, told entirely through her own diary. She logs cigarettes smoked, calories counted, weight gained and lost, and the running comedy of her career, her meddling friends, her impossible mother, and two very different men. Helen Fielding turns the private ledger of self-improvement into sharp social comedy about being unattached and slightly chaotic in the 1990s. The voice is confessional, funny, and forgiving of its own flaws, a diary that reads like your most honest friend narrating her disasters over a large glass of wine.
Quick answers
What is Bridget Jones's Diary about?
A year in the life of Bridget Jones, thirty-something, single, and living in London, told entirely through her own diary. She logs cigarettes smoked, calories counted, weight gained and lost, and the running comedy of her career, her meddling friends, her impossible mother, and two very different men. Helen Fielding turns the private ledger of self-improvement into sharp social comedy about being unattached and slightly chaotic in the 1990s. The voice is confessional, funny, and forgiving of its own flaws, a diary that reads like your most honest friend narrating her disasters over a large glass of wine.
When was Bridget Jones's Diary published?
Bridget Jones's Diary was published in 1996.
Who made Bridget Jones's Diary?
Bridget Jones's Diary was written by Helen Fielding.
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Bridget Jones's Diary in our writing
- Companion guide: Epistolary Fiction: The Complete Guide to Stories Told in Documents
A few thoughts on Bridget Jones's Diary
Fans should try Pride and Prejudice, the Austen romance Fielding openly riffs on; Nora Ephron's When Harry Met Sally for witty romance with the same warmth; and Sex and the City for single-in-the-city comedy. Marian Keyes' novels deliver more clever, funny women muddling through.
Confessional, funny novels about messy modern life
Bridget Jones logs every cigarette, calorie and romantic disaster in a diary that reads like your funniest friend confessing over wine. These novels share that confessional, self-aware voice, following messy modern people through work, love and self-improvement with sharp comedy and real tenderness for their own flaws.