A WRITER'S FANTASY

When Julia Quinn penned the racy Bridgerton series, she never imagined her books would be turned into a hit TV show

- MAXINE PETERS

STEAMY high society romances, juicy gossip, gorgeous gowns and how can-you-breathe corsets are once again set to become the talk of the town.

After what seemed like an eternity for fans, Net flix’s sizzling period drama Bridgerton has returned with season two after breaking records as one of the streaming service’s most-watched programmes of Covid-strangled 2021.

The hit series is based on eight novels set between 1813 and 1827 and revolve around the romantic lives of eight alphabetically named Bridgerton siblings – Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth. And this season Anthony ( Jonathan Bailey) is trying to find his perfect match. Cue swoons and smooches and many a smouldering stare.

It’s enough to make you want to flap yourself with a many-pleated fan – and who do we have to thank for it all? Julia Quinn, that’s who. And Shonda Rhimes too.

Had it not been for author Julia’s pen and TV boss Shonda’s razor-sharp ability to spot a runaway hit when she sees one, we’d never have been swept off our feet by the highfalutin family and the cast of characters who breathe their rarefied air.

Making it all more the more remarkable is that fact that Shonda, the brains behind Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and Inventing Anna, came across the books by accident. A friend offered to lend her the series after she’d run out of reading material on holiday. Shonda devoured the books and knew she had to turn them into a TV show.

“I remember I was almost scaring people, telling them we have to get these crazy romance novels – they’re hot and they’re sexy and they’re really interesting,” she says.