SOURCE: “Girl Talk,” in New Statesman, Vol. 129, No. 4491, June 9, 2000, p. 56.

In the following review of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Allardice compliments the novel's “unbeatable comic dialogue,” but wonders if Fielding is trying too hard to repeat the successful formula of Bridget Jones's Diary.

Poor Bridget Jones has a lot to answer for: a craze for pronounless prose, girlie columns and a scarily skinny American sitcom star. It is little wonder that, by the time of her return in a sequel to the bestselling Diary, the backlash was waiting. One critic (who sounded rather like Bridget's mum) even pointed out that Bridget was far too old now to be carrying on in this way—well, true, but who's counting? The big question was: RIP, or long live Bridget Jones?

Well, if it ain't broke don't fix it seems to have been Helen Fielding's approach: best mates Jude...