Bridget Jones fans are not happy due to a very unexpected plot twist in Helen Fielding's new novel, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. In the novel, Bridget is a widow following the death of her husband, the beloved character Mark Darcy, The Hollywood Reporter confirms.
The U.K.'s Sunday Times published an excerpt from the forthcoming novel over the weekend. The excerpt revealed that the novel will focus on Bridget after her husband's death.
The excerpt reads, "Why didn't I just stay as I was. Sad, lonely, workless, sexless ... but at least a mother, a widow, and faithful to their ... Faithful to their father."
Immediately, fans took to Twitter and Facebook to express their extreme discontent.
NyunMien Ku wrote on the Bridget Jones fan page: "What's the point of reading it now? BJ and MD were my fav. couple and now Helen's gone and killed him off! I demand a rewrite to resurrect MD!!!!"
Laís Souza added: "My advice is to Helen Fielding: do not destroy your most famous story. We love Bridget WITH Darcy. Is it too late for another man in the book."
Jacinda Kate Bridger echoed their sentiments: "Widowed??? Noooo!!! What kind of Horror-spoiler is THIS????"
Some didn't even believe the excerpt was real.
A few, who were in the minority, defended Fielding's decision.
"Get over it everyone," Miguel Albino-Simpson wrote. "The reason why Bridget even exists for your personal delight is because Helen Fielding created her therefore she can do whatever she wants with her and any character in the book. Why are you being so childish."
Fielding released her first Bridget Jones book, Bridget Jones's Diary, in 1995, which spawned the cult classic film based on the novel starring Renee Zellweger as Bridget, Colin Firth as Mark and Hugh Grant as Daniel. The sequel, Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason, which was released in 1999, was also made into a feature film. The second book focused on Bridget accepting Mark Darcy's proposal and the couple's resulting happiness.
In the upcoming third book, Mark has died five years earlier, and Bridget is now 51 years old. The novel explores her life as a single mom of two children, Billy and Mabel. Bridget also has a new boyfriend, to fans' chagrin, named Roxster. Some other recurring themes in the novel include Bridget worrying over the petty politics at her kids' school and her persistent efforts to lose weight as well as meditate and stop hiding wine bottles.
Daniel Cleaver, who is mentioned in the excerpt online, is said to be a "naughty godfather" to Bridget and Mark's children. It says he was "relied upon for emergency babysitting duties and inappropriate sexual advances towards their mother."
"Mad About the Boy" hits shelves on October 10.
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