The main focus of plot is Bridget's love life. At the beginning of the year she is a single woman, or "Singleton," who is surrounded by "Smug Married" couples, and worries about dying alone. However, during the course of the year she becomes involved in two romantic relationships. The first is with her charming and handsome boss Daniel Cleaver, who eventually cheats on Bridget with a younger, more attractive woman. Bridget's second relationship is, surprisingly (at least to Bridget), with the stuffy human-rights barrister Mark Darcy. These two men are connected by more than their relationships with Bridget, as Fielding reveals near the end of the novel. Bridget not only obsesses about her love life; she also details her various daily struggles with her weight, her over-indulgence in alcohol and cigarettes, and her career. At the beginning of the novel she is employed in the publishing industry, but after her breakup with Daniel Cleaver she quits and begins working, somewhat accidentally, as a journalist for a local television station.
Bridget's friends and family are the supporting characters in Bridget's story. Her close friends are Shazzer (a strident feminist), Jude (a highly-successful business woman), and Tom (a gay man). These friends are there for her unconditionally throughout the novel; they give her advice about her relationships, and support when problems arise. Her friends are essentially her surrogate family in London. Bridget's parents live outside of the city, and while they play a lesser role than her friends, they are important figures in Bridget's life. Her mother is an overconfident, doting woman who is constantly trying to marry Bridget off to a rich, handsome man. Her father is considerably more down-to-earth (though he is sometimes driven into uncharacteristically unstable states of mind by his wife). Bridget often visits her parents, as well as her parents' friends (primarily Geoffrey and Una Alconbury). In these situations, Bridget is often plagued with that perennial question "How's your love life?" and exposed to the eccentricities of mid-to-upper class British society, manifested in Turkey Curry Buffets and Tarts and Vicars parties.
DOWNLOAD HERE
