Bridgerton is a progressive fantasy about the past. Do romance readers care about its historical accuracy?

Bridgerton watchers started questioning the show’s historical authenticity (again) even before the third season landed. But does historical accuracy actually matter?

Based on the book series by Julia Quinn, Bridgerton is set around the eight Bridgerton siblings, each with their own romance. Romance is the powerhouse of the publishing industry: 19 million romance books were sold in 2022 – over 40% more than the previous year.

We surveyed almost 1,000 readers and writers of historical romance novels from around the world, in 2019 and again in 2023. We asked them what makes a historical romance novel authentic – and does accuracy matter?

Overall, writers were more concerned than readers about historical accuracy. On average, writers’ total scores for requiring accuracy were 4% higher than readers, whose range was wider. Many readers scored accuracy as low as 0 out of 5 as a requirement – but no writer scored accuracy lower than 3 out of 5.

Authors emphasised their own research. Their answers included “It has to be accurate, I research all of my historical knowledge” and “I do a lot of research to make that happen. Research is ongoing.”