One of the biggest book-to-show changes in Bridgerton season three has finally been addressed by novelist Julia Quinn, who wrote the best-selling novels on which the Netflix series is based. The show’s third season, which centered on a romance between Luke Newton’s Colin and Nicola Coughlan’s Penelope, also introduced Francesca’s love stories—both in the present with her husband, John Stirling, and in the future with his cousin, whom she meets in the season three finale.

“Many Bridgerton fans have expressed their surprise, and for some, disappointment in the twist at the end of Bridgerton Season 3--that Michael Stirling, with whom Francesca eventually falls in love in When He Was Wicked, would instead be Michaela,” Quinn wrote in a message posted to Instagram on Monday. The third season features Hannah Dodd as Francesca, Victor Alli as John, and Masali Baduza as Michaela.

“I am deeply committed to the Bridgerton world becoming more diverse and inclusive as the stories move from book to screen,” Quinn continued. “But switching the gender of a major character is a huge change, and so when [showrunner] Jess Brownell first approached me with the idea of turning Michael into Michaela for the show, I needed more information before conferring my agreement.”

Brownell, who took showrunning duties over from Chris Van Dusen this season, previously told Vanity Fair that she “got to do a little bit more invention” with Francesca, “guided by Julia Quinn.”

After the gender swap of Michaela Stirling was finally revealed, Brownell explained her reasoning for the change in Francesca’s arc. “The first time I read When He Was Wicked, which is Francesca’s book, I really related to it as a queer woman,” Brownell told VF. “Her story is in some ways about feeling different. In Julia Quinn’s book, it really has more to do with her being introverted. But for many of us in the queer community, that sense of feeling different from a young age is part of our stories. So I felt like there was already thematic richness in her book to mine for her story. In telling a queer Bridgerton story, I didn’t want to just drop a queer character in to check a box. I want to tell a story about the queer experience and let there be a richness to her story. And it feels like we’re able to do that with Francesca.”

In her Instagram post, Quinn wrote that although she trusts Shondaland’s vision for Bridgerton, she wanted to ensure “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,” she continued. “More than once. I made it clear that it was extremely important to me that Francesca’s abiding love for John be shown on screen.” The first part of Francesca’s book, When He Was Wicked, is devoted to her and John’s love. It’s only after his tragic death that she develops feelings for his cousin.

“I actually had to fight to have the first four chapters, which establish that love, included,” Quinn wrote. “My publisher was worried that writing about Fran’s love for John would take away from Michael’s role as the eventual romance novel hero. But I felt that if I didn’t show how deeply she loved John, and how deeply Michael, his cousin, also loved him, then their feelings of guilt at falling in love with each other after John’s death made no sense. I didn’t want to just tell the reader that they loved him. I wanted the reader to feel it.”

Brownell told VF that the season three betrothal between Francesca and John “is based much more on friendship and companionship, probably, than it is on passion,” adding, “But that doesn’t mean that it’s not valid, and that it’s not real love…. I want to take the time to explore that.”

Quinn wrote that she’s “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. Honestly, it may pack even more of a punch, since John is getting a lot more time on the screen than he ever did on the page, and I think it’s fair to say we’ve all fallen a little bit in love with him.”

The author, who has confirmed she already knows the lead of Bridgerton season four, thanked fans for their “feedback” and “deep commitment” to her characters, before asking that they grant her and Shondaland “some faith as we move forward.”

Since the unveiling of queer storylines for Francesca and Luke Thompson’s Benedict—who briefly joined a male-female throuple this season—Bridgerton’s creative team has received some intense, if inevitable, backlash on social media. “I understand that people are very attached to the way the books are,” Brownell previously told VF. “The books will always be there, and those stories are unchanged. So while book fans will always have their Michael, it felt like queer fans didn’t have anyone in either the books or in the series who was really featured to relate to. I would encourage people to channel some empathy for people who have not gotten to see themselves represented inside this world, which is so inclusive in other ways. That is a really, really important message to send to people: that they deserve to be included and represented as well.”