Uproar After Bridget Jones Author Kills Key Character

The good news: Helen Fielding's third Bridget Jones book is out Oct. 10. The bad news (SPOILER ALERT): An excerpt from the book published in the Sunday Times revealed that Mark Darcy, Bridget's husband, is dead. Cue uproar: Fans were quick to bemoan Darcy's fate on Twitter, the BBC reports, with many wondering why Fielding would make such an unpopular choice. Darcy, of course, was played by Colin Firth in the first two Bridget Jones movies. Sample tweet from @purpleclaire: "I don't want to live in a world where Mark Darcy and Bridget Jones aren't living happily ever after. Too far, Helen Fielding. Too far."

The Guardian reprints the relevant passage from Mad About the Boy: "Has it really been five years? Oh Mark, Mark. What am I doing? Why did I start all this? Why didn't I just stay as I was? Sad, lonely, workless, sexless but at least a mother, a widow, and faithful to their father." "Their" being Bridget's two children with Darcy, Mabel and Billy. In the new book she's dating a 29-year-old "toyboy." Quite a few fans expressed unwillingness to support the move: "Not sure I want to read about Bridge the cougar widow," tweeted @Bettypamper. "Won't be seeing THAT film adaptation," chimed in @KelliMarshall. (More Bridget Jones stories.)