Bridgerton Season 2 drops today! Let’s recap Season 1, based on the first of eight novels in the Bridgerton series, The Duke & I, in the spirit of this hit show.

The Bridgerton Series

The Bridgerton book series, originally published in the early 2000s, is widely known in the romance genre as top quality, especially Regency-era romance novels. There are eight Bridgerton children named in alphabetical order, and each book follows one of their stories. Julia Quinn has written approximately 50 novels in total!

The Bridgerton Children:

• Anthony

• Benedict

• Colin

• Daphne

• Eloise

• Francesca

• Gregory

• Hyacinth

• Parents: Violet & Edmund (Edmund died tragically young while Violet was pregnant with Hyacinth)

The Books follow this order:

• The Duke & I – Daphne’s story

• The Viscount Who Loved Me – Anthony’s story

• An Offer from a Gentleman – Benedict’s Story

• Romancing Mister Bridgerton – Colin’s Story

• To Sir Phillip, With Love – Eloise’s Story

• When He Was Wicked – Francesca’s Story

• It’s In His Kiss – Hyacinth’s Story

• On the Way to the Wedding – Gregory’s Story

The Duke & I Story

The Duke & I is all about Daphne Bridgerton, the eldest daughter of Violet and Edmund Bridgerton, who makes her debut in the London season. She has prepared her entire life for the marriage mart and finding a match in status and love. To secure the best possible proposal for Daphne and keep marriage-minded mamas at bay, The Duke of Hastings, Simon, and Daphne perpetrate a ruse pretending to be interested in each other. Instead, they fall for each other, but Simon’s traumatic childhood rears its ugly head just as their marriage begins.

Throughout all of this, the members of the ton (London’s high society) are reading Lady Whistledown, an anonymous writer. She publishes a free-of-charge gossip sheet on all the goings-on of society. Lady Whistledown calls out people by name and doesn’t pull punches. She quickly becomes the raison d’etre for many of the ton’s actions.

The Netflix Adaptation

Shonda Rhimes makes excellent shows. Full stop. Bridgerton is no exception. The adaptation is nearly flawless, and the differences between the book and the show serve to make the story better. While the novel, The Duke & I, focuses on Daphne’s story, the show brings in elements of the other stories and begins setting the stage. We start to learn about Anthony and his role in the family, Benedict’s love of art, Colin’s desire to travel, and Eloise’s love of learning. We also meet other families, like the Featherington family, and the Queen of England has a role in the show that is not showcased in the books.

Bridgerton season 1 has done a marvelous job adapting the first of eight novels for television. As soon as the workday ends, I’ll be devouring season 2. I hope you will too!