For Quinn, ‘Bridgerton’ series changed everything to ‘bonkers’

Shonda Rhimes was on vacation when she stumbled upon the first book in the Regency-era “Bridgerton” book series, “The Duke & I,” by Julia Quinn and quickly was all in.

“I immediately went out and bought all the rest of her books,” said Rhimes in a recent interview. “Her way with words is delightful. I thought, ‘These are characters I’d want to know.’ They had a universal feeling to them, and I thought they’d make amazing television.”

Rhimes passed the books on to Chris Van Dusen, who was equally besotted.

“I took them home and fell in love with them from the very first moment I read them,” he said. Van Dusen went on to create, executive produce and serve as showrunner of the series for Netflix.

“Bridgerton” was the first of Rhimes’ series to debut on Netflix under her deal with the streamer and chief content officer Ted Sarandos, and it set a high bar. Debuting on Christmas Day 2020, the show, starring Rege-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor in season one, was a hit.

“I got an email from Ted Sarandos saying, ‘Great job,’ which I thought meant great job. And then maybe a week or so in, we started to get the numbers, and I really understood what great job meant,” said Rhimes. “I was just excited to have a show at Netflix.”

For Quinn, life was pretty good before Rhimes and Van Dusen came calling in 2017, but it has only improved since. She was making a “nice living” as a historical romance writer with a following. The show, she says, changed everything to “bonkers.”

“I can’t think of a better

word. I was going with surreal for a while, but now we’ve gone from surreal to just bonkers. Every day it seems something new and amazing happens in the ‘Bridgerton’ world.”

Quinn also serves as a consultant on the series and jokes it’s the “easiest” job ever. “I do see the scripts, and I’m all, ‘This is great! Nothin’ to say!’ ”

Season two of “Bridgerton,” adapted from book two, “The Viscount Who Loved Me,” is now streaming on Netflix. The new episodes follow Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey,) the family’s oldest child, who enters into the social season intent on finding a bride. Page, whose career has blown up thanks to the series, did not return for season two. Dynevor does appear in a supporting role.

Each book in the series focuses on a different Bridgerton family member, and the show’s seasons are following suit. There are eight books in the series, plus a book of epilogues with a short story called “The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After.” A limited prequel TV series, written

by Rhimes, is also in development about the origin story of characters Queen Charlotte, Lady Danbury and Lady Violet Bridgerton.

Quinn is enjoying a renewed interest in the “Bridgerton” books.

“Romance writing is like a balloon. Eventually you stretch the balloon as far as you can go, and it’s really hard to get people to come around and go into the balloon. And people outside the balloon have never heard of you, which is totally fine. ‘Bridgerton’ just popped the balloon,” said Quinn.

“Suddenly all sorts of people who never picked up a romance novel or historical romance novel were reading them. In April 2021, all eight books were on the New York Times bestseller list at once.”

Quinn’s publisher printed new books with Page and Dynevor on the cover, and they sold out instantly. Then every title was sold out, Quinn said.

Quinn’s next book, the graphic novel “Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron,” is due out in May.

TED S. WARREN Julia Quinn, who is seen March 8 at her Seattle home, is the author of the “Bridgerton” book series.