Oh, Helen Fielding, this is very bad news, v. bad indeed. Seems that the Bridget Jones' Diary author (SPOILER ALERT!) has killed off Mark Darcy, the two-book-spanning love interest of the titular character!
News of Mr. Darcy's demise was revealed in an extended excerpt from the third installment, Mad About the Boy, published in the U.K.'s Sunday Times Magazine on Sept. 29. The excerpt shows Bridget, now 51, as a widowed mother of two. (In Fielding's last book, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (1999), her level-headed gentleman lover proposed to Bridget.) According to The Independent, "[his] death will appear in a flashback deep into the book and not be revealed in advance."
And just like that, Bridget Jones is single once more. After the excerpt was published, fans took to Twitter to vent their anger over Fielding killing off such an important and beloved character, who was brought to life by Colin Firth in the film version. (Renee Zellweger played the forever-dieting, unlucky-in-love Bridget.)
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