Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination

Where do you go after Bridget Jones? Creator Helen Fielding's response has been to go somewhere completely different. Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination, Fielding's fourth novel, is a spy-thriller whose sassy heroine, the eponymous Joules, doesn't fret about weight gain, laddering her tights or Chardonnay and fags in the manner of her predecessor. Oh no--Olivia, once plain old Rachel Pixley from Worksop, is a self-made, go-getting journalist for the Sunday Times and Elan magazine with, or so her colleagues at the ST maintain, "an overactive imagination" and an impeccable gift for languages. Both of these come in handy when Olivia is despatched to Miami to cover a face-cream launch, meets the enigmatic Pierre Ferramo, an international playboy, and finds herself on the scene of an al-Qaeda bomb attack. (Question: where, exactly, do Elsie and Edward rustle up that tray of tea from?)

Cue meetings with suitably disreputable people (wannabe film stars, Arab carpet vendors, spies, terrorists) in an array of exotic locales (LA, Honduras, Egypt) as Olivia goes on the trail of the terrorists and, utterly implausibly, is recruited to MI6 (they can't get the staff nowadays). A ridiculous plot is not exactly a hanging offence in a spy-thriller, which is probably just as well here. Sadly, for Fielding, however, we do inhabit a post-Austin-Powers universe and Olivia, a walking digest of Susan Jeffers platitudes, is hard to take: seriously or otherwise. None of it is very funny, nor thrilling. Olivia is more Nancy Drew than Modesty Blaise or, crucially, Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum.

Still, you can have great fun playing Bond-bingo with the clichés. Family wiped out in freak accident. Tick. Greasy henchmen. Tick. Gadgets. Tick. Charismatic al-Qaeda villain, who to Olivia's amusement, admittedly, really does use the sentences: "It is a great delicacy in our land" and "Evidently, you are connoisseur of great beauty. As am I." (Alas, "I expect you to die, Ms Joules" and "He's inside the belly of that steel beast", do not materialise.) Maybe there's a clue in the title; perhaps the whole shebang is intended to be taken with a huge bag of Saxo. As Scott Rich, the CIA hunk, says to Olivia as the tale closes: "Oh don't be silly, lovey. It's just a figment of your overactive imagination." If only. --Travis Elborough

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addictive and highly entertaining - Rated
I have given this book 5 stars not because it is great literature but because it does exactly what it is intended to do: it gives the reader pure escapism. It is mainly carried by the main character, who I found a lot more interesting than Bridget Jones. While BJ is endearing and funny, she is also frustrating and is quite often rescued from her own foolishness by some man or another. Not Olivia Joules. She is a one-woman action hero who braves one situation after another, armed with a hatpin and her 'rules for life' (which, incidentally, I found very useful!), all done with wit, charm and gentle kindness. The book is wildy unrealistic, deals in stereotypes, and ties all the loose endings in a totally cheesy way (girl gets guy she initially hated but turned out to be actually really quite nice - you know the drill). But this is all part of its charm. It jumps from one exotic location to the next and is thoroughly enjoyable, without pretending to be anything other than what it is. I eagerly anticipate Helen Fielding's next offering.

Perfect holiday read - Rated
Let yourself unwind in this wistful, funny novel. A world away from Bridget Jones (thankfully). This book was the perfect accompaniment to a beautiful tropical island holiday.

Best experienced with an overactive imagination!

the female james bond only better - Rated
this book was so funny but at it's heart it was based around reall issues it was such a great read i finished it in three days and i would love to see move of olivia in the future. so if your listening ms fielding "please can i have some more"

She's done it again!! - Rated
After reading 'Bridget Jones Edge of Reason' I just simply craved more. And here came 'Olivia Joules'!! What can I say: what a fabulous character with many hidden depths and what a mass of adventure she gets herself in. This book is certainly for Bridget fans, but with a little less slapstick and a lot more jet setting adventure and intrigue, and a byline romance. If you want a book that is strictly not predictable, here it is. Highly Recommended!! *****

A big dose of hilarious escapism!! - Rated
Having been given this book for Christmas, it was a few months before I actually got around to reading it....but once I'd started it, I couldn't put it down!

It's a light-hearted, humorous, tongue-in-cheek story about a woman who really shouldn't be allowed out on her own! It made me laugh out loud at times and had me reading at a hundred miles an hour at others!

If you take life too seriously, you'll probably be a little doubtful of the inclusion of OBL and the mad story that unfolds - but for the rest of you, take it for what it is, laugh loudly and enjoy the escapism and wit. I didn't want it to end!