{"id":248325,"date":"2026-05-29T23:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T23:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/248325\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T23:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T23:34:10","slug":"bridgerton-author-julia-quinn-cautions-manhattan-beach-fans-about-book-bans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/248325\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Bridgerton\u2019 author Julia Quinn cautions Manhattan Beach fans about book bans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Story and photos by Nikki Yunker<\/p>\n

Regency romance blossomed at a Manhattan Beach library speaker series event featuring the author whose book series led to a worldwide breakout hit Netflix show.
Julia Quinn, author of the literary series collectively known as \u201cBridgerton,\u201d spoke about book bans, the romance genre and the TV adaptation of her books.<\/p>\n

About 900 fans, many in tiaras, lacy fascinators and floral gowns attended the talk at the Mira Costa High School\u2019s auditorium on Saturday, May 23. The talk was followed by a book signing, signed book raffle, refreshments, limited edition \u201cBridgerton\u201d-branded<\/a> teas and a violinist performing the Netflix soundtrack of \u201cBridgerton.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Manhattan Beach Mayor Joe Franklin welcomes \u201cBridgerton\u201d author Julia Quinn to Manhattan Beach for her Manhattan Beach Library talk at Mira Costa High School on Saturday, May 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cBridgerton\u201d follows the lives of an elite, 19th century London family\u2019s eight siblings as they navigate marriage during the Regency era, when King George III\u2019s illness led to his son being appointed prince regent in 1811.The 2020 series was adapted by Golden Globe-winning producer Shonda Rhimes, who created \u201cGrey\u2019s Anatomy.\u201d Bridgerton became one of Netflix\u2019s all time, top 10 most globally-streamed<\/a>\u00a0 series. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Manhattan Beach Library Commissioner Samuel Braitmen introduces L.A. County Library Director Skye Patrick and \u201cBridgerton\u201d author Julia Quinn for their Manhattan Beach Library discussion at Mira Costa High School on Saturday, May 23.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The show is noted for its racially diverse cast, and is set in an alternate history, \u201cpost-racial\u201d society where Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, is a bi-racial woman with African ancestry.
Quinn said she appreciated the \u201ccolor-conscious\u201d casting choice for the adaptation of her fairytale-esque series of eight core novels she wrote between 2000 and 2006.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew [Rhimes] was going to do something to make the books more diverse and inclusive. In the books, I don\u2019t specify race and I don\u2019t actually describe what the characters look like a lot, which maybe is why it is so easy for me to see them in different races,\u201d she said. Queen Charlotte is only mentioned once in the original book series, but Rhimes and Quinn filled\u00a0 the literary gap by co-authoring a 2023 novel centered on the character.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cBridgerton\u201d author Julia Quinn speaks with L.A. County Library Director Skye Patrick during the Manhattan Beach Library\u2019s speaker series discussion at Mira Costa High School auditorium on Saturday, May 23.<\/p>\n

Quinn said she was happy to give full creative control of the show to Rhimes, who contacted Quinn\u2019s agent in 2017 and bought the rights to the books after having discovered one of the novels while traveling.\u00a0 Quinn has served as a show consultant and as an extra in Episode No. 6 of the spin-off, \u201cQueen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before discussing \u201cBridgerton\u201d with L.A. County Library Director Skye Patrick, Quinn spoke against the trend of library book bans, where content relating to race, gender and sexuality are often challenged.\u00a0 \u201cPlease remember this when you go to the ballot box and think about all the issues, keep this issue at the forefront of your mind \u2014 what happens to your society when we lose the right to read freely,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Each time she participates in a library event, Quinn said she donates $5,000 to EveryLibrary<\/a>, a nonprofit advocating for library support and funding. She previously toured nationwide for the organization as an ambassador against book bans.\u00a0 The event was the fourth in Manhattan Beach Library\u2019s new biannual speaker series, which began in fall 2024. Its past speakers were National Geographic photographer Cory Richards, celebrity chef Roy Choi and young adult fiction author Nic Stone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that Julia Quinn has a really strong affinity with certain customers, and they\u2019re very passionate about her books, and that definitely shows by the attendance today,\u201d said Jessica Lee, L.A. County Library deputy director of marketing and communications.\u00a0 From a show of applause prompted by Manhattan Beach Mayor Joe Franklin, the majority of attendees hailed from outside the city, with many driving from nearly an hour away to attend the free event.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"La Mirada resident Lina Gutierrez-Ibarra, 56, dressed up in a blue ballgown, as her favorite character, Daphne Bridgerton.<\/p>\n

La Mirada resident Lina Gutierrez-Ibarra, 56, dressed up in a blue ball gown as her favorite character, Daphne Bridgerton, from the first season and book.\u00a0She waited about an hour in line for Quinn to sign her copy of \u201cThe Duke and I.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you read the stories, it\u2019s an opportunity to be engulfed into it, to feel a sense of beauty. It\u2019s a way to be taken out of your everyday element,\u201d she said.\u00a0 Gutierrez-Ibarra, who watched the show twice and began reading the novels for more details, enjoyed the event as an enriching way to bring together the books and the series.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"
5. Los Angeles-based violinist Mary Keating provides live covers of contemporary songs in the \u201cBridgerton\u201d soundtrack. Keating has played violin for about 28 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like the way that Bridgerton has a mixed culture. So it could be me, it could be you, anybody could fill these roles,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a great way to appreciate that era.\u201c\u00a0 Quinn said the series has resonated with audiences because most people seek to have a significant other in their lives.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a very universal theme. Not everyone, but most people want to find somebody with whom to share their lives with, and so it is something that can speak to everybody in some way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Quinn, the pen name of Julie Pottinger, grew up in New England and graduated from Harvard University in 1992.\u00a0 Now based in Seattle, in her youth she spent summers with her father in Southern California, in Oxnard and North Hollywood.<\/p>\n

Quinn recently traveled to Kenya with Landesa<\/a>, a global land rights nonprofit. She has partnered with the organization since 2024 and serves on its board of directors. \u201cLandesa has to do with land rights for the rural poor around the world. In Bridgerton times, most women were not able to own property and that is something that is still happening,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\". \u201cBridgerton\u201d author Julia Quinn signs books during the Manhattan Beach Library\u2019s speaker series event at Mira Costa High School on Saturday, May 23.<\/p>\n

Quinn who is working on an unannounced new project while balancing political activism and philanthropy, said she became a romance writer because it was what she liked reading.\u201cEspecially now, it\u2019s so nice to be able to pick up something and know that you\u2019re going to have a happy ending,\u201d she said. ER<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Story and photos by Nikki Yunker Regency romance blossomed at a Manhattan Beach library speaker series event featuring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-248325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}