Book Review: The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns
Named after a famous fictional character, librarian Bridget Jones was raised on a remote cattle station, with only her mother’s romance novels for company. Now living alone in Fremantle, Bridget is a hopeless romantic. She also believes that anyone who doesn’t like reading just hasn’t met the right book yet, and that connecting books to their readers is her superpower. If only her love life was that easy.
When handsome Italian barista Fabio progresses from flirting with love hearts on her coffee foam to joining the book club she runs at her library, Bridget prays her romance ‘curse’ won’t ruin things. But it’s the attention of her cranky neighbour Sully that seems to be the major obstacle in her life. Why is he going to so much effort to get under her skin?
With the help of her close friends and the colourful characters who frequent her library, Bridget decides to put both men to the test by finding just the right books to capture their very different hearts. She soon discovers that not all romances start with a meet-cute, but they might just end in happily ever after…
Written by Australia’s most beloved romance writer, The Other Bridget is a delightfully uplifting book about books, and a gorgeous celebration of the power and pleasure of romance novels throughout the ages.
Published by Penguin Australia
Released February 2024
My Thoughts:Beloved Australian author Rachael Johns has released her first romantic comedy. Best known for her rural romance novels, she has also written several general fiction books, and those are the ones of hers that I normally read. There has been a lot of anticipation surrounding this book and so far, it’s raking in the five-star reviews.
I feel that in this novel, Rachael has put a lot of herself into it, specifically regarding Bridget’s love of romantic fiction and everything bookish. There’s also a personal health aspect that Bridget lives with that the author herself has been very open about, in terms of her own struggles throughout her life. To me, The Other Bridget feels like Rachael Johns has finally arrived at that coveted space that not many authors get to – the place where they can write what they want, the book they’ve always had inside them.
There is much to enjoy within this novel and for the most part, it’s a lot of fun, particularly the interactions between friends, both new and old. It’s very long though, just shy of 500 pages, and I’ve recently broken up with big books, so I found this hard going at times. For me, a few of the plot points were a bit redundant and I could see many places where the novel could have been trimmed down and not been worse off for it.
I chose the audio version of this novel, and the narration was quite good, the story was brought to life with enthusiasm, and it was also nice to hear from Rachael Johns at the start as she read the author note herself, setting the tone for the story. The value of reading, all things books, and the importance of libraries, are of course some of my favourite topics, so I thoroughly enjoyed all the bookish parts of this story. I recommend the audio version; it will perk up your commute and give you a proper romcom movie vibe while you’re at it.
