Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding Picador $101 Having put her Bridget Jones series to rest, Helen Fielding brings us a new heroine, Olivia Joules, who is, thankfully, the antithesis of Bridget. Olivia is a petite glamorous blonde, doesn't smoke and is never weak or clingy. Instead of some dreary story about a neurotic woman desperate for a man, Olivia jets round the world, spies on terrorists, dives with sharks, rides with Bedouins across the desert, and goes on undercover operations with a bra full of 007-type gadgets. Fielding is at her best when poking fun at trendy hotels, style writing and Hollywood, but she's taken some odd plot twists. Having Olivia lust after a man she believes is Osama bin Laden in disguise is discomforting. There's a fine line between parody and reality, and it's not clear whether Fielding is trying to make a point, or just being tactless.
