The night the third “Bridget Jones” novel, “Mad About the Boy,” came out in October 2013, author Helen Fielding was taking a walk in London when she passed her local pub and was accosted by a tipsy patron.

When I write Bridget now, I write for Renée,” Fielding told PEOPLE. Zellweger starred as titular character Bridget Jones in the 2001 film adaptation of Fielding’s novel, a

Zellweger’s Bridget is now a widow – and romanced by both Leo Woodall’s younger man and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s kindly teacher – and this sequel, adapted from Helen Fielding’s third book in her series of novels,