Reviewed by Monique Prince, Undergraduate Services Librarian
If you liked Bridget Jones's Diary then you'd probably also enjoy Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination, also by Helen Fielding. If you loved Bridget Jones's Diary, you might be slightly disappointed by Fielding's most recent effort. That said, I enjoyed this novel, and although it is the literary equivalent of a "chick flick," it also contained a surprising amount of dramatic rescues, crime-fighting, and James Bond-esque spy gadgets. The story opens as Olivia Joules, a British reporter (recently demoted from international to style coverage) for the Sunday Times arrives in Miami for a face cream reception. While surrounded by several "actresses slash models," she meets a mysterious, wealthy, exotic movie producer she is simultaneously attracted to and suspicious of, as she thinks he bears a striking resemblance to a known terrorist. When a Google name search yields no results and she witnesses a shocking disaster linked to al-Qaeda, she is convinced he is hiding something. Olivia then follows him to Los Angeles and beyond in a quest to discover whether he is in fact a terrorist or merely a man falling in love with her. One aspect of the book that is particularly appealing is Fielding's depiction of Olivia Joules as an independent, intelligent woman well-versed in international politics while at the same time retaining the fun-loving, hyper-analytical, slightly silly personality so wonderfully depicted in the character of Bridget Jones. (Which reminds me, I also recommend both Bridget Jones's Diary and its sequel, Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason).
