‘The Perfect Couple’: Four Major Differences Between the Netflix Show and the Elin Hilderbrand Book

Caution! Spoilers ahead

Beach read meets murder mystery in the hit new show The Perfect Couple. Based on author Elin Hilderbrand’s novel, the plot follows Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson), who is about to marry Benji Winbury (Billy Howle), the son of famous novelist Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman). And even though she disapproves, Greer spares no expense in planning the wedding of the season, but she doesn’t account for the murder of the maid of honor, Merritt Monoaco (Meghann Fahy).  Soon, everyone becomes a suspect, and only the Chief of Police, Dan Carter (Michael Beach) can crack the case of who in the wedding party is a killer. 

And if the plot isn't juicy enough, the behind-the-scenes drama is even better. Continue reading for more. 

‘The Perfect Couple’ book is actually the third in a series 

Despite being the first season of the show, The Perfect Couple is the third in Hilderband’s beloved Nantucket bookseries. 

The first novel, A Summer Affair, was released in 2008, followed by The Castaways in 2009. Nine years later, The Perfect Couple was published before the series came to a close with 2024’s Swan Song. 

It remains unclear if the other novels will be adapted into TV shows or movies. 

Many of the character names were changed

It turns out that in the book, many of our favorite characters went by completely different names. 

To begin with, Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson) was actually named Celeste Otis in the book. However, to avoid any confusion with Kidman’s character Celeste in Big Little Lies, Netflix decided to change the bride-to-be's name to Amelia. According to showrunner Jenna Lamia, “The bride was named Celeste through many, many drafts of the script.” 

The show’s Isabel Nallet (Isabelle Adjani) was Featherleigh Dale, family friend Shooter Dival (Ishaan Khatter) was originally Shooter Uxley and housekeeper Gosia (Irina Dubova) was named Elida in the books. Lastly, Dan Carter goes by the name Chief of Police Ed Kapenash. 

Greer Garisson Winbury is completely different 

In The Perfect Couple TV show, Greer (Kidman) is portrayed to be a very successful writer, but that is not the case in the book. Instead, the character is a failed writer who is about to quit the profession. But that isn’t the only thing the two versions of character don’t have in common. 

Greer’s brother, Broderick Graham (Tommy Flanagan), does not exist in the book, not to mention the way she meets her husband, Tag Winbury (Schreiber), is almost the complete opposite. In the show, Greer is revealed to be an escort, which is how they met. But in the original tale, the two met in a bar, which helped them achieve their status as a “perfect couple.” 

Finally, Merritt’s death was entirely re-written 

In the show, Abby Winbuty (Dakota Fanning) killed Merritt (Fahy) by drowning and drugging her to ensure Abby’s husband can get his trust fund, but in the book, the death is entirely accidental. Abby does drug Merritt—who then wanders off to the water to wash off a cut and accidentally drowns—but she originally intended to drop a pill in Featherleigh’s drink to keep her from sleeping with her husband. 

“I loved the ending of the book, but through the development process, the producers and I all realized that it may feel more satisfying in a television show to have the murder be intentional and targeted,” Lamia explained. “I wanted to honor those pieces of the book but also give the audience the satisfaction of having had an intentional murder by someone who really intended to murder the victim.”

Also, in the book, Merrit’s killer is never caught, but in the show, Abby is charged with murder by none other than Chief Dan Carter. 

Explains Lamia: “I wanted to give the police a win, because those characters are so smart and so fun to see play off one another, and their relationship builds over the course of the series to a really strong alliance. It was important to give them the win, especially since they’re the everyman of the show.” 

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