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Overview
Disillusioned with life as a literary publicist in London and sick of her hotshot TV presenter boyfriend, twenty-something Rosie Richardson decides to give up glitz for good deeds and escape to Africa to run a refugee camp. When famine strikes and a massive refugee influx threatens to overwhelm the camp, officials drag their heels. The only way to get food fast is to bring the celebrities first, so Rosie returns to London to organize a star-studded and risky emergency appeal. Deftly skewering the world of celebrity fundraising, Fielding's debut novel is both comic and thought-provoking.
Cause Celeb crackles with insights into the nature of fame, passion, and altruism in our time, all the while following an unlikely-but hugely likeable-heroine.
Synopsis
Disillusioned with life as a literary publicist in London and sick of her hotshot TV presenter boyfriend, twenty-something Rosie Richardson decides to give up glitz for good deeds and escape to Africa to run a refugee camp. When famine strikes and a massive refugee influx threatens to overwhelm the camp, officials drag their heels. The only way to get food fast is to bring the celebrities first, so Rosie returns to London to organize a star-studded and risky emergency appeal. Deftly skewering the world of celebrity fundraising, Fielding's debut novel is both comic and thought-provoking.
Cause Celeb crackles with insights into the nature of fame, passion, and altruism in our time, all the while following an unlikely-but hugely likeable-heroine.
"A terrific, witty story" (USA Today)
Orlando Sentinel
[Cause Celeb] is engaging in the best sense of the word, both aesthetically and morally.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewAvailable for the first time in the United States, Cause Celeb is the hilarious debut novel by British literary sensation Helen Fielding. With the same wit and candor that shot Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason to the top of bestseller lists and forever altered the vocabulary of dating, Fielding executes a remarkable spoof on the altruistic endeavors of commoners and celebrities alike as they unite to combat the horror of famine and neglect in Africa. Populated by larger-than-life characters from London's West End and the unsung heroes toiling anonymously on the Continent, Cause Celeb is a cunning and poignant tale that discloses the romantic underpinnings of life and love in the 21st century.
Rosie Richardson, a frothy young woman trapped in the cauldron of the publishing world, finds herself involved in a dysfunctional relationship with TV personality Oliver Marchant, a Teflon-coated Romeo who slips in and out of her life with greater frequency than she'd like. Disenchanted with their glamorous lifestyle, Rosie packs her bags and (quite literally) heads for the hills, embarking on a personal odyssey through the majestic deserts of Africa to the fictional state of Nambula, where each day's sunrise brings a daunting challenge.
Upon arrival in the sparse refugee camp, Rosie immediately gets a sense of just how eccentric some of her new neighbors are. Muhammed, a local go-between with a flair for melodrama, the burly Irish doctor O'Rourke, and two seasoned nurses are all catalysts for the story who keep spirits alive and send emotions on a roller-coaster ride. When a carpet of locusts wreaks havoc among vestiges of the season's last crops, disease and starvation become a palpable threat that plagues the proud refugees of Nambula with fear.
But stubborn government regimes turn a blind eye to the dangers facing the village, the relief workers' pleas for food and assistance are ignored, and fever and calamity run rampant, forcing Rosie to return to London and enlist the help of her former lover and the motley crew of friends they once shared. In a final, inspired act of desperation, the former publicity flak miraculously pulls off an international appeal with results that far surpass anything she had imagined.
With a winning combination of pathos and humor, Fielding suggests that the real voyage of discovery is not simply in the quest for new landscapes, but in having new eyes to view them with. Ultimately, Rosie does find the peace of mind and passion she so desperately sought, and the success of her cause adds substance to her life and a depth to her character she had never suspected. Like the Bridget Jones novels, Cause Celeb is an easy, enjoyable read. But despite its seeming frivolity, the book paints an insightful and sanguine portrait of modern-day philanthropy. It's just that in the world according to Helen Fielding, even saving lives can be cause for merriment.
--Lauren Foster
Baltimore Sun
Incisive and sharp with smart prose and acerbic wit...Cause Celeb is fun, moving and best of all, dead-on.Sarah Dessen
The wry wit and sarcasm of her later novels is apparent, but they serve a larger purpose...here...People
...the laughs in this novel come from its vivid, cleverly drawn cast of characters...Boston Globe
[Fielding] analyzes London party life with the piercing eye of an anthropologist...the African scenes are reminiscent of [Joseph] Conrad.USA Today
...a terrific, witty story...[a] sophisticated and thoughtful novel...Miami Herald
...an engaging splash of satire and a solid dose of effective drama.Atlantic Monthly
...a deft, subtle, admirable, pleasurable book.Cosmopolitan UK
A terrific achievement....the camp scenes are as moving and funny as the original M.A.S.H.Observer (London)
...a modern version of King Lear's Fool; she jokes incessantly but tells the truth and there's a bittersweet power to her comedy....Memphis Commercial Appeal
Not since Allison Lurie's Foreign Affairs has there been as amusing a glimpse into London's intensely hedonistic world of celebrity types.Orlando Sentinel
[Cause Celeb] is engaging in the best sense of the word, both aesthetically and morally.From The Critics
Fielding's first novel (which was a hit in the United Kingdom but, until now, has never been released in the United States), tells the story of Rosie Richardson, who leaves her fast-track job in the PR world of London to do good in the refugee camps of the fictional state of Nambula in Africa. After four years, a few locusts and a civil war, a disillusioned Richardson returns to London and her sophisticated social circles. When the situation in Nambula becomes increasingly dire, the media maven harnesses her celebrity savvy to organize a Live Aid-esque event. An entertaining tale about the vacuous world of celebrity, this book juxtaposes the heroine's time in London and that spent in the camps of Africa. Even before she wrote the wildly successful Bridget Jones's Diary, Fielding skillfully wrote about the single girl's life (yes, there is a romantic interest here). This enjoyable book, more socially concerned than its follow-up though just as witty, will please the authors' many fans.—Mimi O'Connor