The many, many reasons the Bridgerton author supports Francesca and Michaela’s season

In case you’ve missed the memo: Bridgerton season five will be about the love story between Francesca and Michaela. Some Netflix viewers are whining about this, as they a) assumed the next season would focus on Eloise, and b) only just realised the show was building up a queer romance. The author of the original Bridgerton books, Julia Quinn, has spoken out about both these topics. Here are the many, many things the author has said in defence of Bridgerton season five focusing on Francesca and Michaela.

Yes, the Bridgerton author had input into Francesca’s love interest being a girl

Okay, so the novel When He Was Wicked is about Francesca‘s romance with John’s cousin Michael. In the end of season three, John introduced his cousin as Michaela. Some viewers raged about Netflix switching this character’s gender. Julia Quinn published a lengthy statement about this. Yes, she knew the change was coming – and she was involved with the decision.

Julia Quinn wrote on her Instagram: “When Jess Brownell first approached me with the idea of turning Michael in Michaela for the show, I needed more information before conferring my agreement. I trust Shondaland’s vision for Bridgerton, but I wanted to be sure that we could remain true to the spirit of the book and of the characters. Jess and I talked for a long time about it.”

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She made it clear she wanted the Netflix to still show Francesca loved John before she fell for Michaela, otherwise “their feelings of guilt at falling in love with each other after John’s death made no sense”.

She continued: “I’m confident now, that when Francesca has her Bridgerton season it will be the most emotional and heart-wrenching story of the show, just like When He Was Wicked has always been the true tear-jerker of the Bridgerton book series.”

I can’t wait, honestly.

My heart
(Image via Netflix)

Julia Quinn also seems to be unimpressed by how some readers reacted to the change. “I expected some disappointment,” she told Us Weekly, “I didn’t expect people, like, calling me names and saying like, ‘Oh, go deposit your big fat check,’ and ‘You sold out. You’re a terrible person.’

“So, that was a little strange, but I’m fine. It’s just, like, if you can’t handle it, there’s always the book. I’m not going to rewrite the book, and you can have one of each.”

The Bridgerton author is ‘fine’ with Netflix switching up the timeline

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The timeline of the Netflix show is a bit different to the timeline of the book series. In the books, Benedict marries Sophie several years before Colin marries Penelope. Colin, Eloise and Francesca’s novels all take place at the time. The novel about Eloise was published before Francesca’s, which is why many Bridgerton viewers assumed season five of the show would follow Eloise’s book.

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Julia Quinn has said she is “fine” with the Netflix show adapting her books in a different order. She told Us Weekly: “With books or film or television, they have different needs … to make them work well, and they have different strengths. Certain things that work great in the book don’t necessarily work well on television.”

Biological children aren’t necessary to Francesca’s story

It’s a common complaint among Bridgerton viewers that Francesca won’t be able to have children with her partner in the TV show in the same way as she does in the book series. *Gasps* What do you mean, it’s possible for a woman to be happy without birthing a husband’s children?!

The Netflix showrunners have hinted Francesca’s story will explore the theme of fertility. We don’t know how the TV show will handle this topic. But, children weren’t an integral part of Francesca’s book. Julia Quinn explained in The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After: “I will confess that when I wrote the final words of When He Was Wicked, it didn’t even occur to me to wonder whether Francesca and Michael would have children. Their love story had been so moving and so complete that I felt I had closed the book on them, so to speak.”

Woah, a woman can be fulfilled without reproducing?! What a revolutionary idea!

I can’t wait for them to be happy
(Image via Netflix)

Julia Quinn continued: “But within days of the book’s publication, I began to hear from readers, and everybody wanted to know the same thing: Had Francesca ever had that baby she so desperately wanted? When I sat down to write the second epilogue, I knew that this was the question I must answer…”

So, she wrote the short story in which Francesca gives birth to two kids because readers were fixated on this. Children weren’t planned to be part of the plot.

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

Featured image via Netflix.