Helen Fielding, regarded as the queen and creator of chick lit with her ground breaking Bridget Jones's Diary, lives up to her reputation, perhaps even surpassing it, with Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination. It is a novel first and foremost about espionage that lightly incorporates romance into the plot, making it the most brilliant chick lit book I have read yet. Olivia Joules is set in our modern times, involving politics and current events as well as personal growth and love. Fielding, who really did define the chick lit genre, is clever in that she doesn't allow the romance to be at the center of the story. Her protagonists are always loveable, strong, yet girly and adorable women whose successes revolve around personal achievement. Stories that are just about the romance are merely romance. Chick lit, particularly Fielding's, is distinct in that the protagonist is always fabulous on her own, thereby attracting wonderful men, something I was disappointed to see the producers, writers and directors miss altogether in the movie adaptation of Bridget Jones.
Fielding's Olivia Joules is an inspiration. It is at once gripping and exciting, romantic and sexy. I absolutely loved it!
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