Just because something is not perfect, does not make it any less worthy of love….Daphne, Duchess of Hastings (formerly Miss Bridgerton)

Dearest Reader….This author has said it before and she will say it again… she is unashamedly and unapologetically a Bridgerton tragic. The scandals and affairs of the people of the ‘ton’ would curl the hair of the most modern reader.

Okay, I can’t write like that for a full blog.. enough of talking like Lady Whistledown and back to being me. I adore the series of Bridgerton as seen on Netflix. So, while awaiting the release of the second part of Series 3 (not happy with the partial drop), I decided to buy one of the Bridgerton books by Julia Quinn and see how it compared with the series. I don’t normally do this. Once I’ve seen a movie or a series, I don’t want to read the book generally, however the opposite is not the case. I love watching a show that is based on a book I’ve read, as I love to see if someone else’s vision resembles mine and if not, what they saw that I didn’t.

We all know of movies or series that have certainly not lived up to the book. Flowers in the Attic is the best example of this I can think of. The movie was horrendous and they changed the storyline so much it bore no resemblance to the trilogy of books. I was screaming at the screen in the long run, I was so angry. I’m sure you can think of many more examples and I’d love to hear them. I just don’t understand what makes someone go “I love this book, let’s make it into a movie/mini-series/tv-show’, then they bastardise it beyond recognition. It beggars belief in my opinion.

But while I was shopping at our local department store on the weekend, I saw the 4th book in the series, Romancing Mr Bridgerton, which series 3 is based on. If they’d had the first book ‘The Duke and I’ there, I would have started with that, but they didn’t so I bought number 4 anyway to have a read, not really knowing what to expect. I sat down late on Saturday afternoon to read it and finished it on Sunday. It was enthralling and I couldn’t put it down. In writing this, I will not give away any spoilers which I really couldn’t do anyway. Let me tell you why!

The books and series are different. So I honestly have no idea how Series 3 will end. They are so very different and yet so very alike. This is always the case I think when books get made into a show but often the characters get all bent out of shape in the transition. I have to say, I don’t think that happened here. What made this book so easy to read was that I already knew the characters. I already had a relationship with them, well most of them. I didn’t have to try to work them out whilst reading about them. They were portrayed just as they were written. I loved that.

All except Lady Featherington who is portrayed in the series as a scheming, bitter and desperate woman whereas in the book, her only scheming seems to be in getting all her daughter’s married, which was the normal maternal role of that era. There seemed to be no money issues or lost houses or any of the other drama portrayed (brilliantly of course) in the series.

There are some in the show that have been added and some which have been deleted. I am only speaking about Romancing Mr Bridgerton here as I haven’t read the others yet, though that will be remedied soon. For instance, there is a Felicity Featherington, younger sister of Penelope who did not exist in the series. It’s a shame really as I think having a younger sister adds a new and wonderful dimension to Penelope who is such a pivotal character.

Possibly the biggest difference is that in the books, Queen Charlotte is not a character. George and Charlotte would have been on the throne when the book is set, but she is not the adversary to Lady Whistledown that the series portrays. I love Charlotte’s character so much that I’m happy for that difference. Again, I’ve only read one of the books so far and I don’t think Charlotte’s absence is a big deal but in the series, I would have been devastated to have never known her and her costumes. Those headpieces are to die for.

Anyway, just as a recap, let’s go through the Bridgerton family as we know them. There is, of course mother Violet, widowed and a very hands on matriarch of the 8 Bridgerton children and all their extras. Her main job in life seems to be to see her children all married but in love matches, not just marriages of convenience or status, though status is to be expected. They are Bridgerton’s after all. The large brood of children exist of Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory and Hyacinth. Easy to remember as they were born in alphabetical order or should I say, named that way.

These haven’t changed in the books but their ages seem vastly different from the show. Each of the original 8 books were based on the individual love story of the Bridgerton offspring. (There are other prequels and sequels in the series too.. I will get around to reading them all eventually, I’m sure.) The time line is probably the biggest difference in comparing book and show. I guess that’s understandable as it’s harder to age characters, so the show is much more condensed in it’s time line.

In the book, Penelope is roughly 17 when she comes out and is officially a ‘spinster’ at the age of 28 when she finally gets noticed by Colin as anything but a friend, whereas in the series only a few years have passed. It’s forgivable. Film is a different mistress to literature. I don’t think it really detracts from the storyline. It’s also worth adding here, that Series 3 is based on Book 4. Benedict’s love story should come before Colin’s but I guess due to the popularity of Penelope in the series, they released her and Colin’s first.

But, let’s talk about the identity of Lady Whistledown while not talking about it, just in case anyone hasn’t seen the series yet. The identity was still not known until nearer the end of book 4, where in the series we found out (unnecessarily I think) in series 1. Now to be fair, I haven’t read the first 3 books yet, so perhaps she was outed earlier, but the way it is written in book 4, I doubt that is the case. I am happy to be proven wrong though.

I personally think the series could have kept this secret for so much longer than they did. Maybe I’m just thick, but I had no idea until it was revealed who Lady W was. Lots of suspicions and ideas but nothing concrete. And I loved being kept guessing. A romance with a bit of a quirky mystery? Yes please. Anyway, this was a bit of a disappointment for me where the series was concerned. I loved finding out but I would have loved it to have continued as a mystery until it had to be told in line with the books.

Another huge difference between the two was that, from what I have read or can understand from reading comments online, the Great Experiment isn’t part of the books. I was interested to see if that was the case so I went snooping. The thing that made me ask that question was that in the book, Lady Danbury’s eyes are blue, which of course, they were not in the series due to her ethnicity.

It makes absolutely no difference to the storyline again if I’m honest. In fact I think it was a rather splendid addition. It is understandable that Shonda Rhimes would add this as she has been pivotal in changing the balance of colour on our screens and she is simply brilliant. She was the brains behind the incredible Grey’s Anatomy. She is often credited online as being the creator of Bridgerton which yes, she brought it to our screens but she did not write it. Let’s not rob the author Julia Quinn out of the glory of this successful phenomenon. Her work is brilliant and she deserves the credit for her series of novels revolving around this family.

There is also no deal between Colin and Penelope to find her a husband in the book. There are no fights between Eloise and Penelope and certainly no friendship between Eloise and Cressida Cowper. Nor does she seem to be snooping to find out Lady W’s identity. Eloise isn’t as prominent in Book 4 as I would have expected after watching the series thus far. The book tends to lead into Eloise’s story which should be next in line but the series now has to interrupt this to add Benedict’s story next.

I fully understand why they’ve put Colin’s story before Benedict’s. I’m sure most will agree that after Daphne and Simon’s love story in Season 1, Anthony and Kate fell a little flat in comparison. Still fantastic and a beautiful love story with all the Bridgerton traits, but boy it’s hard to compare to the passion of the Hasting’s love affair. I can’t wait to read the first to see if book 1 is as steamy as the series.

Anyway, I think when it came to the next series, they wanted to take probably the most pivotal and loved character Penelope, and feature her. It’s a ratings no brainer. But it is going to make even more changes to the timeline as a result and I’m not sure how that will work. I mean by the time Colin and Penelope got together in the book, Daphne and Simon had a hoard of children already as did Anthony and Kate and Benedict and his wife who I know nothing about yet.

I guess what I’m getting at here is that both series and books are fantastic, even with their differences. I think the books, as is, would have worked as a tv show with no changes to the storyline, but I also understand that a bit of salacious drama never hurts in drawing a viewing audience. The steaminess is probably a bit more pronounced in the book but the series is no slouch in that department either and I think if they made it any steamier, it would have an entirely different rating lol.

But I don’t think one gets in the way of the other. I watched the series then I read the book and I intend to read all the other books in the series as well as watch every season of the tv show as it’s produced. The differences in the series from the books don’t detract from either. Both are brilliant and both are worth devouring in their own right. Some bits I love from the series version and some I prefer the book version. But most importantly, I believe they got the heart and soul of the storylines right.. And that is the Bridgerton’s themselves. A large, loving family who believe in soul mates above status and who adore each other and have each other’s backs.

And that is, for me anyway, what I love most about it. Anyway, I’m off to watch the post to see if my copy of book 1, The Duke and I has arrived in the mail yet.. I have some important reading to do .

Happy gentle reading….Livvy xxx