REVIEW: The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns
Content warning: history of/discussion of disordered eating, PTSD, cancer in a secondary character aged 15
Dear Rachael Johns,
I listened to The Other Bridget (narrated by Jane Mahady) in June this year. (I also own the ebook and the paperback – which I even had signed at the recent RWAus conference) as well.) I’m writing this review at the end of August. In June, The Other Bridget was only available to Australian and New Zealand readers. The way to annoy DA readers is to tell them about a great book they can’t get ahold of so I couldn’t review it here then. But good news everyone! The Other Bridget is now available worldwide! (The follow up book, Bad Bridesmaid – featuring Fred – will be out early next year and that too will be available everywhere so double yay.)
I wrote a brief review on Goodreads after I finished but the rest of this is from memory. Still I enjoyed the story very much so even though it was two months ago with many books in between, I think I recall it pretty well.
Bridget Jones is a librarian in Fremantle, Western Australia. She goes by Bee most of the time because it avoids the jokes about “that movie” (Bridget is, apart from anything else, often annoyed so many people don’t seem know it based on a novel). The Fremantle Library of the book (I’ve never been to the real one) is amazing. It’s vibrant and welcoming, inclusive and filled with community spirit. It’s a hub for connection, not just for books. (I would love it if my local library was more like Bridget’s library.) As the story begins Bee is heading to a fancy dress party at the library (she’s in the infamous bunny costume from Bridget Jones’ Diary). Her boyfriend of a few months is supposed to be attending with her and she’s excited to have her friends and colleagues meet him at last. Only he bails and it turns out he was married. Bee determines to swear off men and lets her hair down at the party. On arriving home, a tipsy Bee mistakes her house for the one next door (she lives in one side of a duplex, with her dog John Brown) and has her “meet cute” with the grumpy new neighbour who is not so pleased to be woken in the early hours of the morning but a drunken woman essentially trying to break into his house.
From then on, Bee and the mystery man next door (who refuses to tell her his name) have what you might call a hate/hate relationship. He plays some godawful instrument (is it possibly bagpipes?), as well as shooting hoops in the backyard (loudly) which disturbs her peace and he is ungrateful for the “I’m sorry” cake she left on his doorstep after their first meeting. He is less than impressed with her enthusiastic but less-than-tuneful and very loud karaoke. He reports her (numerous and noisy) wind chimes to the council. The nerve!
In the meantime, Bee crushes on the barista the local coffee shop – Fabio. Dreamy and Italian with the sexiest accent, he’s flirty and hot. She doesn’t think he would be interested in her, but shortly after Bee takes over the “Book Stars”, the library’s seniors book club, Fabio begins to show a marked interest in her. Pretty soon he’s coming along to book club, getting chummy with all of the Book Stars and getting more than chummy with Bee herself. Who knew that romance was right there waiting just when she decided to stop looking?
Anyone familiar with either Bridget Jones’ Diary or the book it was based upon, Pride and Prejudice, knows who is who in this story. But romance is all about the journey of course.
After Bridget finally learns her neigbour’s name, she begins to get to know him and it turns out there is far more to Sully (“like the big cute furry blue monster in Monsters Inc?”) than being grumpy and a terrible musician. He has his own baggage and good reason for being less than friendly at first.
Sully and Bee bump into each other all over the place – including at her counsellor’s office. She sees a counsellor to make sure she doesn’t fall back into disordered eating and to maintain her mental health – she’s healthy now and intends to stay that way. He is there to deal with PTSD following a traumatic work event. He has a connection to the library too – but it takes a while for Bee to know about it. (We readers know of course.)
Apart from the romantic storyline between Bee/Fabio and Bee/Sully, the broader cast at the library have their own stories. Fred, Bee’s best friend, is entirely anti-relationship. She likes to hook up and does so regularly but she does not want to date or have a boyfriend. (We’ll see how that plays out in Bad Bridesmaid.) There are big changes at the library as a result of a health crisis, and Bee gets to know new library patrons, a mother and daughter, Laura and Lola. Lola is 15 and is in treatment for cancer. Laura asks for Bee’s help with book recommendations and from there a solid friendship blooms and grows between all three women. These aspects of the book are a big chunk of it. The novel straddles the line between romance and women’s/general fiction but it is definitely a romance, I promise. The book itself is nearly 500 pages long. There is plenty of time for all of the goodness without the story getting boring or saggy in the middle.
There are so many great book recs in this book – it’s an homage to books in general and romance books in particular as well as to libraries. I shudder to think of the book budget required to actually purchase the multitude of romance books (and other books) recommended in The Other Bridget. This book is clearly written with a great love of and great knowledge of the romance genre. That in itself warmed my heart.
There’s a subplot readers might need tissues for (I did) so be warned. I was extremely grateful for the epilogue. (Readers: don’t skip it!)
As far as the audiobook naration was concerned, Jane Mahady was good at the accents, Australian, English and Italian, but didn’t have a great range for pitch/resonance so male characters weren’t as well differentiated as I’d have liked. There was also a sad mispronunciation of Jennifer Crusie’s last name (it does not rhyme with Cruz). She did however capture Bridget’s character – it shone through her performance.
There are some very Australian things in The Other Bridget. It would be a shame to change the book for a non-Australian audience. The “Aussie-ness” (readers please note that “Aussie” is pronounced “Ozzie”) is part of it’s charm. But even I had to look up what an “eggspot” was. (It’s a hamburger joint in Fremantle. You’re welcome.) I don’t think there’s anything in the book that wouldn’t be easily understood by a worldwide audience, certainly nothing that a small amount of googling wouldn’t fix.
I enjoyed the wider cast and the friendships between the Book Stars and Bridget as well as the friendships between the crew at the library and Bridget/Lola/Laura. I loved the slowly developing romance between Bee and Sully, how they grew from enemies, to friends to lovers. I loved the trope inversion at the end of the story (you were so right about miscommunication!). Getting to know Bridget and Sully so well over the course of a fairly long read, I felt every confidence in their future.
I did have a couple of questions by the end – whatever happened to Ursula? Were there any personnel changes at the library? – but maybe they will be answered in Fred’s book? I shall report back!
Grade: A-
Regards,
Kaetrin
I love the cultural and language differences in English language books from other countries. Most of the time, it is easy to understand in context, but it is also fun to run across things I need to look up.
@MEB: I like it too.
Well, this does sound tempting! Thanks for your review, Kaetrin.
@Kareni: If you give it a try, please let me know what you think!
@Kaetrin, what a terrific review–I’m rushing over to check this out!