Celebrity books

Celebrity books

Cause Celeb

Having enjoyed the Bridget Jones books like so many others, I was curious to see what else Helen Fielding had written, and came across Cause Celeb. I didn't have any specific expectations, although I suppose I was hoping for more of Fielding's wit and keen observations. I was very pleasantly suprised by this book, and came Because *Cause Celeb* was only recently released in the United States, I had already read both of her other books, the Bridget Jones Diary and the sequel to BJD, Bridget Jones Edge of Reason. I was happy with both of the Bridget novels; they were a fresh look at single life in the 90's. But I had no idea of Fielding's depth until reading *Cause Celeb*.

The main character of Celeb is a more mature, somewhat less self-conscious version of Bridget. They have many characteristics in common, in particular, their sense of humor in the face of tragic situations. Rosie works for a publishing house in London, where she is often right in the middle of celebrity gatherings. She hooks up with a famous TV host, Oliver, who turns out to be (in my humble opinion) a schizophrenic abusive boyfriend that increases her desire to get far, far away from London life and the celebrity scene. She finds work in Nambula, Africa, where she runs a refugee camp providing food, water and medical care to villagers thrown out of their homes. In Africa, Rosemary is able to find herself, garner self-esteem and gather the courage to go back to London when a food shortage and health crisis is imminent. Unfortunately, the only way she can help the refugees is to ask for a celebrity benefit from none other than Oliver and his cronies.

*Cause Celeb* is an absolute page-turner and exceeded my every expectation for a first novel by Fielding. She makes it clear that she can write about more than our Bridget, which only increases my anticipation by another Fielding novel! from it quite impressed by Fielding's capabilities as an author.

This time, the heroine is Rosie Richardson, a London woman who has somehow fallen into a career that she doesn't quite seem to like or understand, has a penchant for the wrong type of man, and ditches it all to go do relief work in famine stricken Africa (the last bit was definitely not what I had expected!). As the 'wrong' man is somewhat of a celebrity, the readers get a peek into the exclusive world of the famous, with it's etiquette, rules and self-importance. The contrast between this world and that in Africa is, of course, enormous, but Fielding does not get overtly moralistic and simply presents the two universes as they co-exist and occasionally intermingle.

The characters are wonderful, from preening celebrities to other relief workers to the Africans. Rosie's encounters with all of them are funny, interesting and well-fleshed out. And Fielding has great fun with the concept of celebrity and it's ridiculousness, with using the famous to raise money for causes and whom it helps more - the celebrities orthe needy? The descriptions of the horrors of famine and starvation are presented speak for themselves. I got so engrossed in the book that I found myself having to put it down at times, too stressed the relief wouldn't arrive in time for those who needed it!

My one minor complaint about the book - which did not prevent me from enjoying it tremendously - is that there was so much going on that I didn't really feel I knew Rosie all that well. I appreciated her wit, her humanity, her togetherness and so on, but I never got a clear picture of her - it was kind of blurry amidst so many other characters and such a huge background. But this is a small issue, and I problably noticed it only because the Bridget books were so much about Bridget that we saw everything through her eyes. Although Rosie narrates the book, it isn't quite as much her story.

Still, I highly recommend Cause Celeb to anyone who enjoyed the Bridget books or who would like to read an engrossing book that tells an interesting, not overdone, story.