Wait, what happened to Sophie’s mother? The Bridgerton books explain the backstory properly

Season four of Bridgerton is here at last. If you were swept up in the romance and lost track of the plot, then here’s an actual explanation of who Sophie’s mother was. Thankfully, the Bridgerton books go into more detail about Sophie and her mother.

Yes, Sophie is the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Penwood

I’m hoping you’ve got that by now. The Bridgerton books explain more about her mother, but the backstory is a bit inconsistent. In An Offer From a Gentleman, Araminta charmingly refers to her as “some whore”. Sophie tells Benedict her mother was a lady’s maid. That’s the same job that Sophie lands at Bridgerton House.

We don’t know precisely how Sophie’s parents met. It seems as if her mother didn’t work at Penwood Park (or at least not for very long), because none of the other servants know who her mother was. You’d think some of them would remember their co-worker from three years ago.

Sophie at age ten
(Image via Netflix)

However, in a different Bridgerton book (namely, It’s In His Kiss), Hyacinth says: “My brother’s wife is the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Penwood and an actress of God knows what provenance, and any one of us would lay down out lives for her.”

Sophie’s mother died giving birth to her

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Sophie’s maternal grandmother looks after her until she is three. When the grandmother realises she is getting too ill, she deposits Sophie at Penwood Park. The book says: “She had few memories of her life before her arrival at Penwood Park, but she could remember a long coach journey across England, and she could remember her grandmother, coughing and wheezing and looking terribly thin, telling her she was going to live with her father. And most of all, she could remember standing on the doorstep in the rain, knowing that her grandmother was hiding in the bushes, waiting to see if Sophie was taken inside.”

Not great parenting from him
(Image via Netflix)

Sophie’s grandmother left an explanatory letter in her pocket. The housekeeper finds this. After Sophie’s father reads the letter, he burns it, so the other servants don’t learn more about Sophie’s mother. He instantly takes her in and declares her his ward.

The Earl of Penwood marries Araminta seven years later, and then the Cinderella story begins.

Bridgerton is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.