So who is Bridget Jones? She'll probably be taken on holiday by British MPs of all political persuasions this summer, although the thought of this would probably horrify her. She's thirtysomething, unmarried and lives in London. She is constantly trying to give up smoking and once, just once, managed to get down to her target weight of just under eight stone. And, oh yes, she hates the "smug marrieds" set.
Bridget Jones isn't real. But her creator, the London Independent columnist Helen Fielding, who has been writing about Bridget's romps through London for the last 2 1/2 years, thought it was about time someone wrote about "this new type of living".
Since the publication of the novel, Bridget Jones's Diary, based on Fielding's column, the book has soared near the top of the best-sellers' list. Many women have been seen reading the book - comparing notes with their friends and colleagues. They stand in little clusters, laughing or allowing themselves a wry smile when they come across something "very Bridget Jonesy". This has become a metaphor for flaky, slightly naughty behaviour - affairs that are going nowhere, taking three hours to get dressed in the morning, that sort of thing.
But all of this comes naturally to Helen Fielding. She says she began writing the column as a joke, usually in one morning, sitting at her desk. "I think there is a group of women, perhaps a new type of woman, who is in her thirties and is single through choice, or through not needing to marry until it's right, and they don't have an identity.
"They were brought up with the idea of being Cosmo Girl. You have the red hatchback, the immaculate white flat, you go to the gym, you don't smudge your mascara all day . . . but, on the other hand, you ask yourself: `Why aren't I married?' "Bridget's preoccupations are the typical preoccupations of urban single people: `Why is it so hard to get together with someone?' `How am I going to improve my career?"'
Without hesitating, Fielding explains why so many women in London identify with Bridget. As she speaks, "Bridget Jones speak" takes over and it becomes difficult to separate reality from fiction. "Somehow single, career women are portrayed in the media as bitch queens from hell. They have somehow screwed up because they're not married. But there are just as many married women being beaten and bored with their lot."
The Bridget Jones column has kicked against the traditional route for thirty somethings - from work, to marriage, to babies. But this isn't to say that Fielding herself would never get married. She just doesn't like the idea that she should be married, and she hates the fact that she constantly asks herself: "Why aren't I married?"
Both Bridget and Helen are contradictory. They drink more than they should, they smoke too much and buy books by "heavyweight authors" but never read them. A quick survey among friends confirms that Bridget Jones has moved from Fielding's imagination to reality.
Caroline (26) - considered too young to be a true Bridget Jones - says she is a "singleton" and was relieved to discover the phrase in Fielding's column "because now I don't feel like such a freak. I get lost driving up the motorway and it takes me a day to prepare for a date. It's great reading about myself and identifying with Bridget. She's become an essential read for young women in London."
"She isn't patronising," says Katherine (31). "I can see myself doing all the stupid things Bridget does. Like being obsessed with the 1471 phone service [to find out who rang when you were out]. And being invited to awful parties where you end up getting drunk and making a fool of yourself."
Bridget Jones's Diary looks set for cult status. Once the author was asked what would happen to Bridget if she decided to get married after all? Fielding's response was: "Oh, I think if she got married she'd spill nail varnish down her wedding dress and if she had children she'd probably lose them."