Is Bridgerton based on a book?
BRIDGERTON has reached record breaking success since the first season came out on Netflix in December 2020.
Following the love lives of the aristocratic Bridgerton family, we take a look to see if the hit series is based on a book.
Is Bridgerton based on a book?
Yes, Bridgerton is actually based on a series of novels by Julia Quinn.
There are a total of eight books, set between 1813 and 1827.
The first book - The Duke and I - was published in 2000.
The novels tell the story of the Bridgerton family, with the first focusing on Daphne entering the marriage market.
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Each novel tells the story of one of the eight Bridgerton siblings.
Here’s the order in which to read the books:
- The Duke and I
- The Viscount Who Loved Me
- An Officer From A Gentleman
- Romancing Mr Bridgerton
- To Sir Phillip, With Love
- When He Was Wicked
- It’s In His Kiss
- On The Way To The Wedding
The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After is a ninth offering in the series with Quinn offering “2nd epilogues,” plus a bonus story.
As well as the novels, Quinn has released two novella's based on Lady Winterton's observations.
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How close is the TV show to the book?
The TV show is not a "word for word adaptation", Quinn told
She added: “I never expected that. I didn’t want that. It’s not what television should be about.”
She continued to explain that the way in which to tell a story will always differ from books to TV movies.
Quinn said: “There are things you can do in a book that you can’t do on film, and there are a lot of things you can achieve on film that you can’t achieve in a book,
"If somebody is walking down the street, I’m not going to describe to you the six other people who happen to be walking around them.”
What has Julia Quinn said about her book being adapted for Bridgerton?
Quinn was shocked when she first heard that creative force Shonda Rhimes was interested in her work.
She told : "Truly, I never thought this would happen to me.
"And I never thought it would happen to anyone because nobody was adapting romance novels, historical, or really even contemporary for screen other than Hallmark movies.
"If somebody was going to do a period piece, they wanted to do another adaptation of Jane Austen or one of the Bronte sisters.
"Those are all wonderful, but the historical romance novels that are being written today are a little bit different. And there's a huge market for them.
"I don't think it's at all surprising that the person who would realize that would be Shonda Rhimes."
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Since the first season dropped on Netflix in December 2020, the show has gone on to reach great success.
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Just 28 days after it first premiered, Bridgerton hit a record of 82 million households around the world.
The show has became the number one ranked title globally and is Netflix's biggest hit series ever.