Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination

Olivia Joules is Helen Fielding's fifth book, a light-hearted spy thriller published in 2004. It chronicles the adventures of Olivia Joules (real name Rachel Pixley), a freelance journalist with an "overactive imagination" as her boss often says.

Plot introduction

The book delves into the world of espionage as it follows the adventures of freelance journalist-turned spy, Olivia Joules. While covering a face cream launch in Miami, Olivia meets the alluring international playboy, Pierre Ferramo. Susupicious that he is an international terrorist, she follows him to LA, Honduras, and the Sudan, while he is under the impression that she is falling in love with him.

Characters in Olivia Joules and The Overactive Imagination

Olivia Joules — A young freelance journalist who works for the Sunday Times and Elan International Magazine. While in Miami for the launch of a face cream by Devorée, a celebrity, she meets with Pierre Ferramo. He reminds her of Osama bin Laden in his looks and mannerisms. Soon enough, she goes on dates with him all over the world to find out more about him, while his actions raise her suspiscions. At fourteen, her parents and brother were run over by a lorry while she was buying Cosmopolitan and candy. She is a dropout of Worksop Comprehensive and made up for her lack of university education by learning French, Spanish, German, and Arabic. In contrast to Bridget Jones, she is very intelligent, albeit rather paranoid at times, and has a svelte figure. Pierre Ferramo seems to be drawn to her because she is English.

Pierre Ferramo — The extravagantly rich, educated and handsome playboy that seems to be falling in love with Olivia Joules. He whisks Olivia on extravagent dates in beautiful and luxurious hotels. He is apparently filming a film called Boundaries of Arizona, intending to help young wannabes breakout into the film industry. In actuality, he despises Hollywood: "the arrogance, the inorance, the vanity, the stupidity, the greed, the salivating worship of flesh and youth, the flaunting of sexuality for fame and financial gain, the lust for the new in the absence of the respect for the old." On one of his dates with Olivia, he tells her of his studies in France, his studies at Grasse where he became a "nose" for the French perfume industry. Pierre mentions a father of whom he seems to fear and hate with no mention of a mother. Later in the book, we find that he is not French, as Olivia though, and is actually part Arabic.

Suraya — A beautiful Indian model with silky black hair who often accompanies Pierre. She lives with him and becomes jealous when Pierre begins courting Olivia. She has drops of a West coast drawl in her voice and Olivia believes she could be English from the notes of her accent. When she does not get her way, she makes a nasty face.

Morton C. — An intelligent diver of whom Olivia is quite fond of. He is described as having "a bronzed, flat, rock-hard abdomen". Olivia befriends him and makes out with him in Honduras, until she becomes suspiscious of his behaviour.

Barry Wilkinson Olivia's boss and editor of the Sunday Times. He is very unsympathetic in the way that he never cares if Olivia is hurt, he just wants the story. In the first few lines of the book, we find that he is attracted to Olivia.

Kate O'Neill — A friend of Olivia who is a foreign correspondent for the Sunday Times, a job that Olivia covets. She acts like an older sister to Olivia, always watching out for her and warning her about getting involved with Pierre Ferramo.