The next title in the Bridgerton book series will be a graphic novel. It will also be author Julia Quinn’s “last love letter” to her sister, comic strip artist Violet Charles.
The sisters worked together on the project before Charles died in a car accident last July.
“She and my father were killed by a drunk driver,” Quinn, who will be appearing at the ongoing Emirates Airline Festival of Literature on February 12 and 13, tells The National.
“It was very difficult, but I’m finding joy in [the graphic novel] again. It’s kind of my last love letter to her. I really want the world to see how talented she was. It says it was written by me and illustrated by her, but honestly, she wrote a lot of it.”
Titled Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron, the graphic novel is less a continuation of the Bridgerton saga than it is an elaboration of a literary work that appears as a running gag within the book series.
A gothic novel, it first appears in the seventh Bridgerton book, It’s In His Kiss, as Hyacinth, the eighth and youngest of the Bridgerton siblings, reads it to Lady Danbury during her weekly visits.
“It is this totally over-the-top gothic novel,” Quinn says. “It’s so much fun to write bad writing. It’s the kind where the heroine dies in almost every chapter. I had so much fun with it. Several books later, I had two more characters reading it. Then I did it again, I wrote a book where the hero was the secret author of the novel. So this book keeps popping up as this ongoing joke.”
It’s incredibly exciting to me just to realise the books are coming out in Arabic
Julia Quinn,
author
Eventually, Quinn says, readers began to ask her to actually write Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron, but Quinn was initially reluctant, saying while it was fun writing snippets, it wouldn’t make for a good, complete novel.
“My sister was an illustrator and cartoonist,” Quinn says. “And we realised it would make for a really fun graphic novel. I think kids can actually read this too.”
Like any project between siblings, Quinn says there was moments of tension while working together. “But it was really, really special,” she says. “I’m really excited for it. It was supposed to come out last year but it got delayed.”
By this point, Bridgerton hardly needs any introduction, thanks to the hit Netflix show based on Quinn's novels.
Thinking back to the beginning, Quinn says she can’t quite pinpoint what the primordial inspiration was for the Bridgerton family. She's always been drawn to historical romances, though, particularly those set in England’s Regency era.
“I was drawn to it because that’s what I like to read,” she says. “What I read for fun in high school and university were Regency historical romances, which is basically exactly what I write.”
One reason the time period fascinates Quinn is that it is far enough in the past to evoke a fairy tale quality.
“It is removed enough that it’s a little bit not magical, but we can permit the characters to do things that we would never accept in a modern character,” she says. “We can romanticise things that we couldn’t romanticise in a closer time period. Even early 20th century is too close.”
There are a lot of areas in the world I wouldn’t feel safe traveling to because of Covid. Dubai is not one of those
Julia Quinn
When Quinn wrote the first book in the series in 1998, she knew there would be more. She never imagined, however, that it would grow to encompass eight novels, each featuring one of the eight children of the late Viscount Bridgerton.
“I thought I was going to do maybe three books,” she says. “The romance genre is full of trilogies and so I was just thinking I’d write a trilogy, but it then started to take off in a way my previous books hadn’t before.”
It's now also been adapted into the TV series and translated into more than 40 languages, and Quinn reveals the books are now also being translated into Arabic.
“It’s a Cairo-based publisher and it’s incredibly exciting to me just to realise the books are coming out in Arabic.”
On the television adaptation, Quinn says it was not difficult giving up creative control when Shondaland picked it up. Released in 2020, the series has become one of the most popular shows of the pandemic era, introducing the glitzy world of Bridgerton to a whole new audience.
The experience, Quinn says, has been surreal.
“It’s Shonda Rhimes,” she says, with a deep sense of awe. “I trusted her. Every single step in this journey has been wonderful. I remember before the series came out, my sister said to me ‘wouldn't it be funny if, like, you get spoofed on Saturday Night Live?’ And then it happened! They were spoofing the show but I realised these were characters I wrote and now they’re on Saturday Night Live!”
Another signal that Quinn’s world had broken into pop culture came when the US National Football League spoofed the show in their draft reveal last year.
“They made it look like the football players were the debutantes,” she says. “I never thought I’d be culturally relevant to the NFL. It just blew my mind.”
Quinn says she's now looking forward to discussing the Bridgerton books with fans at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.
“I love to travel and to be able to sort of see the world through readers is incredible,” she says. “I’m grateful. You know there are a lot of areas in the world I wouldn’t feel safe traveling to because of Covid. Dubai is not one of those. I’ve done my research and I feel we’re good here.”
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
Read more about the coronavirus
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
RESULTS
6.30pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group One (PA) US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner RB Money To Burn, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer).
7.05pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (Turf) 1,200m
Winner Ekhtiyaar, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson.
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Trial Conditions (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Commanding, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
8.15pm Singspiel Stakes Group Two (TB) $250,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner Benbatl, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor.
8.50pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Zakouski, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
9.25pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group Two (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Kimbear, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
10pm Dubai Trophy Conditions (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner Platinum Star, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor.
10.35pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Key Victory, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby.
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.3-litre%204cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E299hp%20at%205%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E420Nm%20at%202%2C750rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E12.4L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh157%2C395%20(XLS)%3B%20Dh199%2C395%20(Limited)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
%20Ramez%20Gab%20Min%20El%20Akher
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStreaming%20on%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMBC%20Shahid%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
UNpaid bills:
Countries with largest unpaid bill for UN budget in 2019
USA – $1.055 billion
Brazil – $143 million
Argentina – $52 million
Mexico – $36 million
Iran – $27 million
Israel – $18 million
Venezuela – $17 million
Korea – $10 million
Countries with largest unpaid bill for UN peacekeeping operations in 2019
USA – $2.38 billion
Brazil – $287 million
Spain – $110 million
France – $103 million
Ukraine – $100 million
PAST 10 BRITISH GRAND PRIX WINNERS
2016 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2015 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2014 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2013 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-GP)
2012 - Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing)
2011 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
2010 - Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing)
2009 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2008 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2007 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
