22 ways 'Bridgerton' season 2 is different from Julia Quinn's novel 'The Viscount Who Loved Me'

When "Bridgerton" made its 2020 Netflix debut, it dared audiences to reconsider their visions of Regency England. Between the show's color-conscious casting, female-centric sex scenes, and burning central romance, many viewers had never seen a TV show, let alone a period piece, quite like it.

Hence "Bridgerton's" domination as Netflix's most-watched show in the weeks following its premiere; A record-breaking 82 million households worldwide streamed the series during its first month on the platform ("Squid Game" later claimed the top spot).

The Shondaland series was met with such audience enthusiasm that Netflix has already renewed it through season four and announced a spinoff following Queen Charlotte's rise to the throne.

While the "Bridgerton" world was revelatory for so many, the framework behind it has been around for decades, and it lies within Julia Quinn's best-selling romance novels.

Season one is based on the author's 2000 novel "The Duke and I," and season two, which premiered on March 25, moves on to "The Viscount Who Loved Me," which hit bookshelves the same year.

Series creator Chris Van Dusen more or less stayed true to Quinn's enemies-to-lovers romance while crafting his eight new episodes, but not everything from the pages made it onto the screen.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for season two of "Bridgerton."

Quinn introduces Katharine "Kate" Sheffield in "The Viscount Who Loved Me." A resident of the English countryside, she accompanies her stepmother, Mary Sheffield, and her younger sister, Edwina Sheffield, into the heart of London for its 1814 season.

Actress Simone Ashley's Kate arrives on the screen 22 years later with the same strength, confidence, and stubbornness as the original protagonist, but she goes by a different name: Kathani "Kate" Sharma.

In "Bridgerton," the character arrives in London from India. The show's writers amended Kate's moniker to reflect her South Asian heritage and selected Sharma, a common surname in her home country.

Viewers will still hear mentions of the Sheffield family on season two. Since Mary's surname is Sheffield, her family is occasionally referred to as the "Sheffield-Sharmas."

Quinn, a creative consultant on the show, wholeheartedly approved of the new name.

"I love the changes that they made," the author told Insider in 2021, later adding, "Simone Ashley is perfect as Kate."

The circumstances surrounding Edmund's death are almost the same in both the book and on the show.

In both versions, the Bridgerton patriarch has a fatal reaction to a bee sting in the final weeks of his wife Violet Bridgerton's (Ruth Gemmell) eighth pregnancy, leaving his family in despair and thrusting Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) into viscountcy earlier than expected.

Some of the details surrounding the tragedy are different, though.

Namely, Edmund (Rupert Evans) dies before Anthony's eyes after a father-son hunting excursion on "Bridgerton." However, Edmund's heir isn't by his side in the written version of the story.

In the book, Anthony returns to their ancestral home Aubrey Hall after a day of horseback riding with his younger brother Benedict to find his sister, Daphne, crying on the floor.

The eldest Bridgerton daughter informs him that their father died from a bee sting. She confirms that their sister, Eloise, witnessed his death.

In the aftermath of Edmund's death, Anthony becomes viscount with no guidance from his father, a man he revered and idolized from the time he was born.

The new head of the Bridgerton family walks away from the loss with a "new knowledge" about his own mortality in the book. To put it bluntly, Anthony is convinced that he'll die at 38, the same age Edmund did, if not sooner.

"Anthony simply couldn't imagine ever surpassing his father in any way, even years," Quinn writes in "The Viscount Who Loved Me."

While Edmund's death deeply affects Anthony on "Bridgerton," the new viscount doesn't vocalize concerns about dying at a young age.

It's hard to imagine "Bridgerton" without Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh), the ton's wealthy, sharp-tongued dowager. So, she's of course a fixture in the 1814 social season in both the book and on the TV series.

On "Bridgerton," Danbury mistreated Mary (Shelley Conn), the scorned diamond of the season, for marrying a man below her rank who already had a child (Kate). Decades later, she sponsors the Sharma family as a way of repaying a debt of honor to her old friend.

Danbury shows up in Quinn's pages as well but in a different capacity. She has no direct connection to the Sheffield women, who saved five-years worth of funds to rent a house, a carriage, and several servants for the season.

Throughout "The Viscount Who Loved Me," Kate harbors a deeply rooted fear of thunderstorms. She can't pinpoint the exact moment she became afraid of lightning and thunder, but she also can't remember a time that she could sleep through a storm.

The puzzle pieces come together when she talks to her stepmother. Mary, who has no idea Kate's fear continued in her 20s, explains that it dates back to the night her mother died of lung disease.

At 3 years old, Kate insisted on being by her mother's side in her final moments. Right before she died, a roaring storm sent lightning and thunder so powerful that it split a tree in the backyard. When Kate finally understands the origin of her fear, she's no longer afraid of storms.

On "Bridgerton," Kate says she finds storms "unsettling" but she doesn't have an intense fear of the inclement weather.

Kate goes into the 1814 season with a poor opinion of Anthony in both versions of the story. But her reasons for disdaining the eligible viscount vary slightly in Quinn's book and the Shondaland series.

While her hatred for him on "Bridgerton" results from overhearing his coarse conversation with other gentlemen, she makes up her mind about him even earlier in the book, thanks to the anonymous gossip columnist Lady Whistledown.

Going into the season, Kate learns of Anthony's reputation as a "Rake" in the paper. She decides then and there to shield Edwina from the viscount before even meeting him.

Newton is more than Kate's furry companion in the book, the corgi is a catalyst in his owner's rivalry with Anthony.

In "The Viscount Who Loved Me," Anthony calls on Edwina only to learn that she's out for a carriage ride with another suitor.

Mary suggests that he accompanies Kate to walk Newton, who gets loose shortly after stepping outside and makes a wild dash for the Serpentine, a lake in Hyde Park.

The dog happens to find Edwina while en route to the water. Before Anthony and Kate can catch Newton, he leaps into the freezing lake, taking an unsuspecting Edwina down with him.

The viscount grows exceedingly angry that Edwina was pushed into the Serpentine and openly blames Kate, who he calls a "menace to society."

Anthony has a clandestine affair with Siena Rosso (Sabrina Bartlett), an English opera singer, on season one of "Bridgerton." She calls off the relationship by the finale, however, and doesn't reappear in the new episodes.

But the character that inspired Siena, an Italian soprano named Maria Rosso, enters the story in "The Viscount Who Loved Me" and takes on a very different role.

Described by Quinn as a "sultry Italian beauty," readers learn that Maria enjoyed a "pleasant interlude" with the Bridgerton bachelor when she was last in London.

She catches Anthony's eye once again during a performance at Violet's party, and he considers "renewing their friendship." If nothing else, he hopes their emotionless encounter will free his mind from intrusive, sexual thoughts about Kate.

The viscount lures Maria into his study, failing to realize that Kate is hiding under his desk. When he eventually spots Kate, he escorts Maria out of the room before any relations can take place.

Violet practically forces Eloise (Claudia Jessie) to come out to society in the opening scene of "Bridgerton" season two, but the second eldest Bridgerton daughter still hasn't made her debut in "The Viscount Who Loved Me."

She has plans to formally enter the marriage market the following social season.

Sure, Anthony and Kate have a gravitational pull toward each other throughout "Bridgerton" season two, but they don't actually act on their feelings until after Edwina (Charithra Chandran) closes the door on the possibility of a marriage to the viscount.

In Quinn's pages, they have their first kiss after Anthony discovers Kate hiding in his study at his family's musicale, just 108 pages into the 348-page novel. In doing so, the viscount compromises her reputation.

Moments after they pull away from each other, Anthony tells Kate that he still intends to court Edwina.

Between protecting her alter-ego as Whistledown and attending social events with her family, Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) has little time to make new friends on season two of"Bridgerton."

But in "The Viscount Who Loved Me," she forms a companionship with Kate.

Quinn writes: "Both of them knew the singular feeling of not being the most popular girl in the room, knew the exact expression you put on your face when you weren't asked to dance but you wanted to look as if you didn't care."

The two debutantes share common ground in the peripheries of ballrooms, both preferring to observe the social spectacle rather than participate in it.

Cressida (who's played by Jessica Madsen in the show) plays a similar role in the book and on the Netflix series: a snooty, shallow debutante who tries to get ahead by cutting down the competition.

In "The Viscount Who Loved Me," she goes out of her way to be cruel to Penelope, who attributes the animosity to when she accidentally knocked punch all over Cressida and an eligible duke the year prior.

At one ball during the 1814 season, Cressida insults Penelope's weight and her bright yellow gown. Kate attempts to defend her friend before Anthony steps in, giving Cressida the "cut direct."

He offers Penelope's arm and escorts her inside, telling her: "I do hate a bully, don't you?"

Watching Anthony save Penelope from embarrassment gives Kate "the oddest feeling that she understood this man completely."

On "Bridgerton" season two, Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), not Anthony, is the person who watches over Penelope.

Anthony's proposal happens so abruptly (and so publicly) on "Bridgerton" season two that Edwina says "yes" without her sister's vocalized approval, which she wasn't likely to get anyway.

But in Quinn's pages, Kate explicitly grants Anthony permission to ask for Edwina's hand in marriage.

After observing his devotion to his family and watching him put Cressida in her place at Aubrey Hall, Kate deems him "sensitive, caring, and principled" — a direct contrast to her early condemnation of the viscount as a "Rake."

Even though Kate wants Anthony for herself, she has no idea that he feels similar emotions for her. So, she makes a selfless decision and tells him that she's withdrawn her "objections to your suit of Edwina."

Stunned and also unaware of Kate's true sentiments, he later responds: "I am much relieved."

Like many of the young debutantes in London's marriage market, Edwina wants to marry well on "Bridgerton."

For the newcomer, "well" means a love match, a goal she prioritizes since she's in the dark about the reality that her family's financial future rests on her shoulders.

In order to unlock her dowry and funds for her mother, Edwina's grandparents have a firm condition that she must marry an English man of noble rank, the fate they wanted and never got for Mary.

The Sheffields' bank account is running dry in "The Viscount Who Loved Me," but there's no inheritance deal in place for Edwina to access a trust fund. Of course, she still feels pressure during her London debut, as so many of the other ingénues do.

Anthony and Kate's romance seems impossible on "Bridgerton" season two after the viscount gets down on one knee and proposes to her sister. Until Edwina leaves him at the altar, he remains on track to marry her.

Edwina and Anthony's relationship never gets this far in "The Viscount Who Loved Me."

He certainly makes it clear that he wants to marry Edwina in the novel, basing his decision solely on the rationale that he wants the diamond of the season rather than a love match.

However, Anthony never actually proposes to her.

Moments after Kate gives Anthony the green light to marry her sister in "The Viscount Who Loved Me," a bee stings her right above her bodice.

Anthony springs into action, fearful that she'll face the same fate as his father. He plucks the stinger away and presses a handkerchief against the sting to remove the "venom" before using his own mouth to suck the rest out.

While his mouth is affixed to her chest, Mary, Violet, and Lady Featherington discover the duo in the garden. Because the unmarried pair are caught in such a compromising position, they both agree to wed the following week to avoid Kate's ruin.

On "Bridgerton," the couple comes to the decision to marry on their own.

Edwina's relationship with Kate is deeply damaged after finding out that her older sister fosters secret feelings for Anthony on "Bridgerton" season two.

She feels blindsided by both her sister and her fiancé, and rightfully so. Both of them allow her to walk down the aisle at a massive wedding despite their draw to each other.

But in the book, Edwina's reaction to Kate and Anthony's emergence as a couple couldn't be further from the anger she feels on-screen.

After Kate tells her that she's betrothed to Anthony, Edwina is "thrilled," "overjoyed," and "not even one tiny bit surprised."

"It was so obvious to me that he was smitten. I do not know why no one else saw it," she tells Kate, despite the fact that Anthony was publicly courting her not so long ago.

Then again, Edwina never gets engaged to the viscount in the original version of the story, so the stakes aren't quite as high.

The newlyweds' nuptials don't get screen time in "Bridgerton," but their wedding is described in Quinn's book.

Given the less-than-proper circumstances surrounding Kate and Anthony's engagement, all involved parties agree on a "quick marriage" as the best way to avoid scandal.

So, the couple exchanged vows in a "small, private affair" in the Bridgerton drawing-room, with both families present as witnesses.

The couple has their first intimate encounter in episode seven, well before they exchange vows on "Bridgerton" season two.

While they may have had their first kiss early on in Quinn's book, they wait longer to have sex, abstaining until their first night together as husband and wife.

Edwina finishes her first social season in London as a single woman on "Bridgerton."

The diamond of the season doesn't have much reason for concern, though. Between Queen Charlotte's mention of her single nephew (who happens to be a prince) and Danbury's offer to host her again the following year, the young woman practically has suitors lined up.

Plus, she has the freedom to marry for love regardless of a partner's fortune now that Kate married into the well-off Bridgerton family.

However, Edwina ends her debut season with a love match of her own in "The Viscount Who Loved Me."

She visits Kate, newly titled a viscountess, at the Bridgerton residence to share that she's fallen in love with Mr. Bagwell, a scholar she met at Danbury's country-house party.

When Kate informs Anthony of the news, he insists on meeting Bagwell. Edwina is flattered by his involvement and says she's "always wondered what it would be like to have a brother."

After his sister-in-law leaves the Bridgerton house, the viscount tells Kate that he plans to provide a dowry for Edwina. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me," she tells her husband. In the epilogue, set in 1823, Edwina is married to Mr. Bagwell.

Kate gets into a horseback riding accident the day after she and Anthony give into temptation and sleep together on "Bridgerton" season two. He finds excuses not to visit her as she recovers.

Alternatively in the book, they're already a married couple by the time Kate's life is put into jeopardy.

Anthony goes into their marriage vowing to never fall in love. It's a way to avoid unnecessary pain, he reasons, factoring in his belief that he's going to die early in his life. So, he distances himself from his wife to suppress his feelings for her.

Eventually, Anthony realizes his emotions are too strong to ignore.

He ventures out to find her, but just as he lays his eyes on Kate in an open-topped carriage with Edwina and Bagwell, he sees it topple over and land directly on top of his wife. Anthony frees her, only to find that her leg is badly injured and in need of emergency surgery.

He fusses over Kate "like a mother hen" as she heals. Once she's on the mend, he professes his love to her and, in doing so, lets go of his fixation on death.

The last we see of Kate and Anthony on "Bridgerton" season two, they're holding up a game of pall-mall with their public displays of affection.

Readers get a more comprehensive picture of the couple's future in "The Viscount Who Loved Me."

In the epilogue, the Bridgertons (and the Bagwells) gather to celebrate Anthony's 39th birthday in 1823. The viscount and viscountess are happily married, and they have three children.