The second season mostly keeps in line with the book, but there is a big departure from the story in episodes 3 and 4. I won’t spoil it for you because everything ultimately ends as it should.
Who is Lady Whistledown in the books?
Same as in the show! Penelope Featherington turns out to be Lady Whistledown in the novels, a storyline that isn’t explored until she enters the spotlight in book four, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. Whether or not that will be covered in season 3 of the show remains to be seen.
Who is the third Bridgerton book—and season—about?
Book 3 is about sensitive artist Benedict Bridgerton. His novel is a spin on the classic Cinderella story: He falls for Sophie Beckett, the illegitimate daughter of an earl. Sophia has been relegated to the role of a servant by her evil stepmother. Benedict meets her at a masquerade ball and spends years trying to find the mysterious woman who stole his heart.
However, season 3 of the show will be about Colin and Penelope. Just as in the show, Penelope has long held an unrequited love for Colin. When he returns from his travels abroad, he starts to see Penelope as something more than a friend, but her identity as Lady Whistledown threatens to end the romance before it even gets a chance to take off.
What are all the Bridgerton books about?
I’ll tell you! I’ve read all of the Bridgerton books in order, so below you’ll find the plot descriptions as well as some opinions.
The Duke and I (2000)
You’ve already seen this story come to life on Netflix: Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) is looking to up her desirability on the marriage market, while Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page) wants the world to think he’s taken so the matchmaking-crazed mothers of the ton back off. Then, the two pretend to form an attachment in the hopes that suitors will find Daphne more interesting, and singles will assume Simon is taken. This being a romance novel, real feelings start to develop between the two—and drama ensues.
My take: I’d start this after you’ve watched the first season of Bridgerton. It’s more fun to have Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor in mind as you read.
“The Duke and I” by Julia Quinn
The Viscount Who Loved Me (2000)
Anthony Bridgerton has finally chosen a woman to marry, but there’s one obstacle in his way: Kate, his intended’s older sister. She doesn’t think the reformed fuckboy is good enough for her sister, nor is she charmed by his rakish ways. What happens, then, when sparks fly between the two? The source material for the Netflix series’s second season, this novel is Jane Austen meets 10 Things I Hate About You (or rather, The Taming of the Shrew).
Simone Ashley is particularly well cast as the novel’s determined heroine. As Julia Quinn herself told me, “A lesser actress might have allowed Kate to devolve into a Taming of the Shrew caricature, but Simone tempers Kate’s fierceness with all the vulnerability and devotion to family I worked so hard to bring to the character. Kate is a very different heroine from Daphne, but I think viewers are going to adore her. Once the world sees Simone Ashley in action, we’ll be clamoring for a Kate Sharma action figure.”
“The Viscount Who Loved Me” by Julia Quinn
An Offer From a Gentleman (2001)
Benedict Bridgerton is the star of this story, a play on Cinderella, that begins at a masquerade ball. There, Benedict becomes entranced by the mysterious Sophie, a servant girl with a wicked stepmother. He doesn’t know it, but she’s posing as a member of the ton until the clock strikes midnight.
