Sarah’s Reading Reviews: Does Bridgerton Book One Live Up to the Netflix Adaptation
In the spirit of romance welcome to my review of the first Bridgerton book, The Duke and I. I am going to explore the differences between the book and the ever so popular Netflix show as well as how good the novel is as a stand-alone text to help you figure out whether the book is worth the read. I have put more work into this review than my degree, with pages of notes including quotes and page numbers lining my notebook, which must give some indication that the book, in my opinion, is just as gripping and worth all of the fuss. I was unsure myself about purchasing the book incase I would simply be rereading what I had just watched so I hope this helps any of you currently on the fence make a decision.
For those of you who want to avoid spoilers, here is a short summary of the main differences without any specifics. In Netflix’s adaptation, while Simon and Daphne are the principal characters, the audience learns about the storylines of many other members of the ton (their word for town) and they get to know these other characters as in-depth and well-rounded people. In Julia Quinn’s novel however, the entire plot is the love story, and we learn about other characters solely in connection with and in relation to that storyline. Obviously the Bridgerton family are presented fairly in-depth but the rest of the ton exists to the audience as side-line characters to the Duke and eventual Duchess. On the same note, Netflix manages to take 3 or 4 small characters from the novel and merge them into one very large and important character on the show. In fact, the main difference between the novel and tv adaptation is the character presentation, from their relevance, to their personalities, everyone is a little bit different.
Overall, there are more than enough differences for you to not feel like you are reading or watching a step-by-step re-enactment of whichever version you choose to throw yourself into first. Having watched the show first myself, I found the book an enjoyable way to immerse myself once again into the couple’s passionate romance. Julia Quinn has a writing style that is very easy to read and sink into and you find yourself turning the pages rather quickly meaning it isn’t a book that would particularly take up much of your time, but the time that you do spend reading it is highly enjoyable.
Now, onto the explicit details. WARNING – there are spoilers ahead for both the show and the novel so don’t read any further if you haven’t seen the show and wish to remain in the dark until you have.
The book starts with Simon’s childhood where his father is thrilled at his birth before being largely absent and then furious at his speech impediment. Simon is raised and defended by a loving nurse who helps him to overcome his stutter and grow into the role of the Duke of Hastings. In the show, it is around here that we meet the larger-than-life character of Lady Danbury, however, in the novel she is not mentioned which led me to believe that she did not exist. I was incorrect though, Lady Danbury does exist, but as a much more minor character. She hosts the ball where Simon and Daphne meet, she has a conversation with each of them at said ball and gives Colin a sly look a few chapters later before she retires to the country. What Shonda Rhimes does in the show is take Simon’s nurse, this much less developed version of Lady Danbury and a Duke, who is introduced as an old friend of Simon’s father and who has some letters to pass on from him, and she merges them into the formidable Lady Danbury we see on our screens and who acts as the sole figure of parental guidance to Simon. It is a very interesting approach by Rhimes and one that works well to transform the story; I for one appreciated having a better acquaintance with such a sassy and knowledgeable woman .
Lady Danbury is not the only character changed to fit the dramatisation of the story on our screens however, and below I will explain how each character is different:
Netflix Simon is a stoic wall which Daphne has to break down but the root of this is the vow he made and the hatred of his father. Novel Simon has that same hatred and, while the vow is never officially vocalised, he does seek revenge through ending the bloodline, however, there is more to it than that. His stutter is focused upon significantly more and it often rears its head when he is emotional, even in adulthood. It is a constant part of Simon’s personality and not just a tool to explain the damaged relationship between himself and his father which is slightly more the case on Netflix. There is a rather touching scene, after Daphne realises Simon wont as opposed to can’t have children, where Simon gets drunk and comes back to bare all to her. Without Lady Danbury being as relevant to Simon’s life, he is evidentially lonelier, and I think, in a way this loneliness makes him less anti-family. He is still rigidly against having children of his own, but you see glimmers of sadness in this Simon where he acknowledges how his life may have been different had he had parents to support him, had he had a family and had he had love.
Daphne is also different in the book; she is average looking with much more self-doubt and has a greater knowledge of men. This is her second season out in the ton, having failed to secure a marriage in her first. The reader learns that she has had four marriage proposals, all by unsuitably old or unintelligent men and that the latest hanger on is of course, the much-disliked Nigel Berbrooke. She describes herself as every man’s friend thus she has effectively been friend zoned by every eligible man because she is ‘average looking’ and has good chat, having grown up, as she repeatedly reminds Simon, with four brothers. At Lady Danbury’s ball she stands far away from the ‘fashionable’ crowd and Lady Whistledown herself says that none of the Bridgertons are of ‘fashionable colouring’, despite the men still being damn right gorgeous and basically towering gods. This Daphne belittles herself often with phrases like ‘me of all people’ when describing male attention towards her and is overall a far cry away from the season’s diamond that we see on our screens. She is no less loveable though and in fact her existence in the friend zone does make the Duke’s plan to attract attention her way make far more sense. It did seem a bit odd in the show that Anthony was able to scare away all suiters and Simon was able to bring them back but by having him make her desirable enough to leave the friend zone, the whole thing just seemed much more plausible. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, Daphne has far more knowledge in the book. She is still totally in the dark when it comes to sex, however, she does appear to be much more confident when discussing fighting and kissing, although she has never kissed anyone herself. This does mean that the mildly awkward but much applauded scene in the show where Simon tells her how to touch herself does not exist, but I too applaud Shonda Rhimes for bringing talk of masturbation into popular culture.
As we move away from the protagonists I will try and be quick with the rest of the character adaptations:
Mrs Bridgerton: Much more Mrs Bennet-esque! Very concerned about marrying off her daughters to the point where Anthony calls her ‘the worst of the lot’. She is horrified when Daphne admits to kissing Simon and thinks that Simon is too old and too much of rake for her to associate with him, that is until he shows the slightest bit of interest in her daughter and all of that is forgotten (a bit like Mr Wickham). She is a bit more stressy but still a wonderful character who shines through as a wonderful mother and member of society. We also see a few more glimmers of her as a woman as opposed to a mother in the book.
Anthony Bridgerton: Much more chill until Simon gets involved. He is fine with Daphne rejecting all proposals and doesn’t go out of his way to find her any, but he does threaten to kill Simon a number of times; even after their marriage he storms out to the country to drag Simon back to London and then storms into the Hastings household to demand Simon profess his love. Daphne and Simon end up letting Antony in on their scheme otherwise Simon would have probably been murdered by chapter 5 but, overall, he is another fabulous member of the household who is shown to be a much more protective older brother, concerned about her as a person and not just her honour.
Benedict Bridgerton: Equally as gorgeous as his older brother and equally just as fiercly protective of his sister which I don’t think comes through as much in the show.
Colin Bridgerton: Stunning eyes! Equally as rakish as Simon, if not much more so; also very defensive of Daphne.
I want to point out at this point that either I was just missing it or the whole Bridgeton’s are named alphabetically thing was never really pointed out explicitly until the end of the Netflix show. It is a more noticeable thing in the novel.
Eloise Bridgerton: Honestly mentioned like twice, nothing about her reading but she does like dresses.
Hyacinth Bridgerton: much more personality, is sassy and ‘flirtatious’ and all-round good fun, I enjoyed her presence in most scenes.
The Queen: Doesn’t exist
The Prince: By nature of the above statement also doesn’t exist
The Featheringtons: Much less relevant. They do still wear bright and unflattering colours and Penelope is spoken about more than her sisters, although only for being less talented and less attractive as promoted by her mother for some reason.
Mr Feathering: DEAD… for literally three years by the time the book starts so either he does die at the end of season one or they are really going to go off book
Miss Thompson: never mentioned, likely doesn’t exist
Will: Doesn’t exist
Mrs Colson: Simon’s housekeeper who I must say is a much more preferable character in the novel! She is kind, and dutiful and appreciative and they get to the point about Daphne learning about Simon’s past a hell of a lot quicker. There is mention of some servants being funny towards Daphne as they are protective of Simon and I think the show rolled that into her character, but I would have preferred to see this pleasantly lovely middle-aged woman on the screen than the strict stickler for rules that we did see.
I have only read the first book and so some of these characters might be developed later and have just been brought in earlier to pad out the show but from the viewpoint of the end of book one there are a LOT of subtle character changes.
While the Bridgerton TV series is perfection, there were a few scenes that they left out that I feel were sadly missed, and a couple that I feel were made better by Shonda Rhimes.
- When Simon first ‘courts’ Daphne he brings her mother flowers. This is a really touching scene because you see a sensitivity to Violet that adds such character. She gets emotional because no one has brought her flowers since her husband’s death ten years ago and it makes both Daphne and the reader realise how overlooked she is as a woman where her duty in society is now as a mother. It really resonated with me and I feel like it wouldn’t have taken much time to add in such a small but powerful gesture, especially as the show aimed to develop the characters beyond their position in the love story.
- Simon and Daphne’s meeting. SO MUCH MORE SEXUAL TENSION! So much flirting and it is the only time we see the characters truly alone before the garden scene. In the show and in the novel, there is always people around because they are promenading or at a ball but in the novel they first meet in a hallway with Daphne having knocked out Berbrooke and before he realises she is a Bridgerton there is so much flirting and heat. I guess being able to hear their inner thoughts adds to the moment but even so it was nice to see them scheming and flirting right from the off. The Netflix adaptation tried to achieve this by making them weirdly standoffish for an episode or two which while good, wasn’t quite the same in hindsight.
- There is a whole chapter where they go to Greenwich with her family and it really juxtaposes his dislike of family with his behaviour. It also helps to bring him around at the end of the novel as it slowly plants seeds that he could be happy with a family of his own. This chapter is funny and sweet and while I realise it would have taken up far too much time to take them away from the ton, it would have been nice to see him slide into their family more. Also at the family meal that he attends, Hyacinth is throwing peas and he is in on it but keeps her secret and I think that is another small moment that would have been nice to see. Simon and Hyacinth have a really cute relationship in the book that certainly could be explored more on the screen.
- Simon gets Daphne’s breasts out during their kiss garden scene and then has to rescue her from brambles. Awkward how her brother sees her breasts when he finds the two of them but, after reading the book, believe it or not, they could have gone further to make the garden scene steamier because it is there in the literature. I don’t feel like anyone can really complain about a lack of sexual tension in the story in any of its forms but the option was there. There is a lot more attention paid to her breasts in the sex scenes too but in a non fetishised or weird way. It was refreshing to read sex scenes written by a woman and watch sex scenes produced by a woman because it felt much more realistic.
- Simon does not ignore Daphne before their wedding. He is a little awkward and hates himself, but he buys her a ring and tells her about the beauty in her eyes and they laugh during their first kiss at the wedding and I enjoyed the fact that, while they both thought they were dragging the other into the situation, they enjoyed their engagement too because it is time that they will never get back.
- Once married I have already mentioned that Simon is more open with Daphne about his past which I enjoyed, I think it brought them closer quicker but after the kind of rapey sex scene where Daphne tries to make a baby he actually leaves her in the book. Admittedly it is more because being upset makes him start to stutter and he is ashamed but he full on leaves her alone for like 2 months and she returns to London alone. This situation does allow for her brother to become her knight in shining armour, but I don’t know how I feel about it. It worked, it was a good plot, and I guess without the constant focus on ‘the season’ it didn’t feel like they were running out of time to get together again… but it meant there was more sadness and less sexual tension while they came to terms with their life. Their reunion was nice though and it felt more like having children was Simon’s idea in the end because of their separation as he was concerned about the health of the potential baby and his wife from afar. It felt more like it was right both for them as a couple, but also for him as a person to be happy with a family as opposed to just a way to make Daphne happy.
Finally, one scene I thought was better in the Netflix show than the novel is the ‘I burn for you’ scene. It would be pretty hard to top that admittedly. While the sex itself is well written, the conversation leading up to it plays out slightly differently. It is less built-up frustration and more a discussion about impotence and how often her parents had sex. Not a mood killer but also not deep burning passion.
Overall, the story is great and while the book and the Netflix adaptation do tell it slightly differently with slightly different focus points both are enjoyable experiences, and I would recommend them both. With more of a focus on the ton and the introduction of the queen, Bridgerton the tv show is an extension into the world of the narrative and it visualises this colourful world of dresses and romance. The novel, while more focused on the love story, enables you to hear the innermost thoughts of the protagonists and feel like you’re living the romance as opposed to viewing it from the outside. So unless you are only interested in the storylines of those who play no part in the novel, such as Mr Featherington, I would wholeheartedly recommend it. The minor plot changes are inconsequential in the long run because both version show how genuine the emotion is between Simon and Daphne, which is at the root of the entire story.
