Bridgerton Author Julia Quinn Reacts to Bridgerton's Biggest Book-to-Show Change
Adapting any book to the screen means that things are going to change.
Good adaptations manage to adjust character and plot while still feeling like they capture the essence of the original story. Sometimes the original authors are ok with these changes, while others can get touchy.
Julia Quinn's series of novels about eight siblings searching for love in the Regency era has been adapted into the smash Netflix hit Bridgerton .
In an interview with Insider last spring, Quinn explained that in her case, giving up creative control over the story (she still works for Bridgerton as a creative consultant) doesn't stress her out – she understands that changes are necessary for the tv show to work. To Insider, she said:
"I don't expect [the scripts] to be word-for-word and I don't want them to be carbon copies. It's really neat, you have these two things that complement each other really well… That type of art form and medium has different requirements and needs."
Being a creative consultant does mean that Quinn occasionally makes her opinion known. In Season Two, she made it clear from the beginning that she thought the epic Bridgerton Pall Mall game ought to stay in. That wasn't exactly a case of creative differences though, because the writers of the show agreed with her. The Pall Mall battle between Kate and Anthony is frequently listed as a fan favorite.
But there are occasional changes that surprise the author. In her 2000 novel The Viscount Who Loved Me, Anthony Bridgerton makes a show of courting Edwina Sheffield (who became Edwina Sharma in the show), but the relationship doesn't make it past the stage of formal social calls before he gets caught in a compromising position with Kate and becomes engaged to the prickly elder sister.
Bridgerton actually got Edwina and Anthony all the way to the alter, a move that divided fans and surprised Julia Quinn. She approved of the change however, as she felt that it gave the show an opportunity to "build Edwina up". Quinn went on to say that giving Edwina higher stakes with Anthony was important:
"I didn't want her to be two-dimensional. I didn't want her just to be the good sister. I didn't want it to be a competition, but I think they were able to bulk up her character."
The engagement also heightens the tension between Anthony and Kate, as it gives the two of them a real obstacle in their happily-ever-after.