Bridget Jones's Diary

Written by Helen Fielding in 1996, Bridget Jones’s Diary is a romance novel with a comedic twist. In 1998, it was named the British Book of the Year, and in 2003, it placed at number 75 on a BBC survey of favorite novels. A film adaptation was released in 2001. Renee Zellweger played the titular character and received an Academy Award nomination for her performance.

This guide refers to the 1996 MacMillan Publishers print edition.

Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide contain descriptions of body shaming and sexism.

Plot Summary

The novel opens at the beginning of the year with the narrator, Bridget Jones, recording some of her New Year’s resolutions. Bridget resolves to stop dating men who treat her poorly. She also decides to stop smoking and drinking to excess and resolves to start saving money and to improve her health.

At a family friend’s New Year’s Day gathering, Bridget’s mother, Pam, and Pam’s friend Una push Bridget to meet Mark Darcy, hoping to play matchmaker. Bridget finds Mark aloof and rude, and he rebuffs her attempts to talk to him.

Bridget reveals that she has a crush on her boss, Daniel, who has a reputation for being a playboy. He often flirts with her in the office, and although Bridget knows that many of his comments border on sexual harassment, she does not mind the attention. Bridget pursues Daniel throughout the month of January until he finally asks her out and treats her to a wonderful first date. However, at the end of the date, Bridget becomes nervous because some of Daniel’s comments imply that he has emotional issues. She rushes away before they can have sex.

In February, Daniel returns to the office, acting as if nothing bad has happened between him and Bridget. Because they are attracted to each other, they go on another date, after which they have sex. Meanwhile, Bridget notices her parents acting strangely and wonders if they are about to divorce. She finds out that her mother has been having an affair with a man named Julio, though her mother swears that their relationship is platonic.

As April rolls around, Bridget attends a work party. She has mixed success meeting new contacts, but when Daniel asks her out, she deliberately turns him down. At a party, Mark unexpectedly defends Bridget’s opinion during an awkward conversation, proving himself to be a kinder person than she had supposed. As time goes on, Bridget cuts back on drinking and smoking, and by the middle of the month, she is satisfied that she is well on her way to achieving her New Year’s resolutions. However, by the end of April, she has resumed drinking, smoking, and binge-eating, and she is also sleeping with Daniel again.

Bridget has a pregnancy scare that leads her to worry about whether she and Daniel would be good parents. Now that they are officially dating, Daniel no longer takes her out. When Bridget plans a romantic weekend for the two of them, it does not go well and neither has a good time. Bridget’s anxiety intensifies, culminating when she discovers that Daniel has been cheating on her.

After concluding that Daniel is cheating on her because of her appearance, Bridget starts a new diet. However, she immediately breaks it when she learns that Daniel is marrying the other woman. Deciding to leave her job, Bridget interviews at her mother’s television studio. When she tells Daniel that she is going to quit, her female friends at the office are supportive and encouraging.

Bridget’s new job starts out well, but after she embarrasses herself on an assignment, she becomes dispirited. Meanwhile, her parents constantly pressure her to attend events with Mark, and she finally agrees to attend a party at the home of Mark’s parents.

At the party, Mark asks her out. Later, when he does not show up for the date, Bridget assumes that he has stood her up. However, when she talks to Mark later, she realizes that she did not hear him knock when he came to her door. Mark helps Bridget to secure an interview, which earns her accolades at work.

When Julio defrauds several people in a scheme involving nonexistent time-shares in Portugal, he and Pam are sought by the police. Mark uses his contacts to find Bridget’s mother and to convince Julio to return some of the money so that Bridget’s family will not be bankrupted. After this incident, Bridget does not hear from Mark for some time, and she wonders if the business with her mother has scared him off.

Most of December passes without word from Mark. When Bridget goes to a Christmas celebration at her parents’ house, Mark suddenly enters along with Julio. They are closely followed by the police, who arrest Julio. Mark reveals that he was in Portugal, trying to convince Julio to come back. He sweeps Bridget away to celebrate Christmas together.