Chic lit with a serious side, but still easy/fun to read. The characters are brought to life by their idiosyncrasies, and the plot had enough twists to keep me hooked. But my favorite thing by far were Fielding’s spot-on observations about relationships/the curious mind games between men and women. It’s humbling to think that this was her debut novel!

DNF'ed at 60%

Ehhhhh… the only thing that kept me reading was the plight of the starving Africans. The rest of the book was quite predictable and Hallmark-y. If that’s your thing, then this is the book for you. I just like books with a little more meaning to them. I did giggle a few times from the clever lines and characters. I did appreciate that it shows famous people as the selfish rich that they often are. Not sure how much of this book is “real”. I know it’s fiction but I wonder if there was any research into geography, people, starvation.
This book is about Rosie Richardson, who is dating this famous jerk. She can’t seem to shake him, which is annoying. Ends up going to Africa to get away but also to help. Gets involved in the cause there to help the starving refugees. Governments and aid organizations fail to provide enough food and medicine. She takes it upon herself to go back to Europe and try to get the famous idiots she once socialized with to sponsor food. They of course want to make a tv program about it. They end up going to Africa and saving lots of people. She of course finally ditches the jerk and ends up with the nice guy, the doctor.
Not a bad book but I just wasn’t enthralled. I was bored a few times.

Ricos y famosos en Nambula es, además de una novela inteligente y muy divertida, un retrato sarcástico e irreverente de las relaciones entre Occidente y el Tercer Mundo, una seria burla a la cómoda solidaridad con la que los miembros de la beautiful people limpian su mala conciencia.

Ricos y famosos en Nambula" de Helen Fielding.

Not at all what I was expecting from Bridget Jones’s mother. But an interesting subject and a much better use of our heroines time than the start of the book

It starts slow but becomes a real page turner by page 90 or so. The main character is relatable although not perfect. Or maybe relatable because of it. It's a masterfully composed story of personal growth through erroneous decisions, a whole lot of them. It's a great candidate for all women's book club. It offers so many angels for a discussion: post-colonialism, pop culture, elitism, womanhood, relationships, codependency, to name a few.

c'étais intéressant mais écrit un peu sommairement, l'auteur ne pousse pas assez dans les détails

After a painful breakup, London PR girl Rosie Richardson goes out to work in an African refugee camp in the famine crisis of the 1980s.

I almost stopped reading after chapter one because I couldn's stand empty-headed Rosie in her silly London life. I persisted because reviews said the book gets better, and it does. Rosie is like a different person in Africa, and the detail of conditions in the camp was eye-opening. Helen Fielding was clearly writing from experience, and I loved those parts.

I needed something frothy after a series of super downer books, so some of my 2-star rating stems from feeling a bit baited and switched by Ms. Fielding. I wanted Bridget Jones-esque silliness, and instead I got an African refugee camp with locusts sending a devastating famine. Everything felt pretty two-dimensional, especially the main character, who we're told is a bang up aid worker/leader, but seems fairly devoid of managerial chops. And the attempt at satire when London glitz and glamor meets developing world was... sigh.

The author of Bridget Jones's Diary started her writing career with this unusual story that mixes light-hearted romantic entanglements with a serious story about displaced people in an impoverished nation.

Rosie Richardson, in an almost unbelievable transformation from puffette (a publicist in a publishing company) to running a refugee camp in Africa entertains with her honest voice. First enthralled with her TV presenter boyfriend and then disillusioned with his unpredictable cruelty she runs away to do something worthwhile with her life.

Fielding manages to make this work as Rosie deals with the ramifications of a possible plague of locusts, while remembering what led her to flee to the dark continent.

The story builds to a wonderful climax with memorable scenes.

I was not expecting a compelling novel about African famines to have any humor whatsoever. But, like M.A.S.H., this novel originates in a place of truth. Fielding's own journalistic and producing experiences with Comic Relief in the '80s formed a strong foundation of in-depth, accurate information in this novel. This is a powerful book--Rosey begins her career as director of an aid camp primarily to get away from a lousy boyfriend, but the romantic escapades take a backseat to the character's growth and development. The novel is at its best when the action is in Africa.

I have always enjoyed Helen Fielding’s writing. Bridget Jones’s Diary is one of my all-time favourite books, but I think I loved Cause Celeb even more!! Rosie Richardson was a fantastic character. She was so relatable and likable. The setting of the story in Africa in the midst of a famine was eye-opening, and Rosie’s commitment to helping the refugees to survive was bold and admirable. I adored this book and it’s now right up there among the list my of my absolute favourites, right beside Bridget Jones’s Diary! If you like Bridget, I know you’re going to like Rosie! I highly recommend this book.