5 Jilly Cooper Classics To Read In Memory Of The Beloved Author
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3 hours ago
Jilly Cooper was best known for her 'bonkbuster' Rutshire Chronicles, but there's plenty more to enjoy in her 40+ book oeuvre
We were saddened to hear the news of beloved author and journalist Jilly Cooper’s unexpected death this morning (6 October), aged 88. Rising to fame in the ‘70s, Cooper is best known for her Rutshire novels, a series of soapy yet intricately plotted ensemble novels featuring multiple perspectives and plenty of sexual escapades, prompting Cooper’s common moniker ‘Queen of the Bonkbuster’. And with a whole new generation of fans recently captivated by Disney’s adaptation Rivals, the bestselling instalment of the Rutshire Chronicles, today’s news is sure to sadden countless fans across the UK and the globe.
The first season of Disney’s Rivals landed in 2024. (L-R: Alex Hassell, Danny Dyer, Dame Jilly Cooper, David Tennant & Aidan Turner)
Whether you are a longtime fan of the Jillyverse, recently discovered Cooper through Rivals or you are looking to engage with her work for the first time upon the sad news of her death, here are five Jilly Cooper classics to start with.
Best Jilly Cooper Books
Riders (1985)
The first in Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles, Riders was an instant hit when it finally hit the shelves in 1985 (a decade in the making thanks to an early manuscript being tragically left on a London bus). At almost 1,000 pages, it is the perfect introduction to Jilly’s pun-filled and sprawling yet incredibly intricately plotted style, one that absorbed hundreds of thousands of readers in the ‘80s. Riders introduces us to the illustrious upper-class countryside world of Rutshire, a thin veil for the Cotswolds, and its super-rich, super-arrogant resident Rupert Campbell-Black. Because Rupert is a star show-jumper, expect jodhpurs galore, masses of booze and plenty of illicit encounters, especially the extra-marital kind.
Corgi Books, Paperback, £10.99
Rivals (1988)
If you enjoyed Riders, Rivals is your natural next step – and we’d also note you can easily dip into any of the novels in Jilly’s Rutshire Chronicles as, though they intertwine, they are all standalone stories. That said, Rivals once again centres on Rupert Campbell-Black, this time retired and joined by his life-long nemesis Tony Baddingham as well as superstar TV journalist Declan O’Hara. With the wealthy but lower class O’Hara family new to Rutshire, expect to see the glamorous area and its wealthy locals through more naive eyes. A must-read for fans of Disney’s Rivals, too.
Corgi Books, Paperback, £9.99
Between The Covers (2020)
Between The Covers is Jilly Cooper’s most recent non-fiction publication, but it harks back to her earliest days writing. A distillation of the author’s life as a beloved newspaper columnist, Between The Covers is packed with characteristic puns and wit. Pick this up to find the genesis of Jilly’s novels – her searing observations on sex and socialising – all taken from her popular Sunday Times columns throughout the ‘70s.
Corgi Books, Paperback, £8.99
Harriet (1968)
Before penning Riders (commencing her Rutshire Chronicles with a bang), Cooper was offered six-book deal by editor Desmond Elliott, who bid the author – until that time penning short stories for teenage magazines – publish a novel every six months. The result is Jilly’s early romances, all bearing one woman’s name and all published between 1975 and 1978. Of Emily, Bella, Octavia, Prudence and Imogen, the author cites Harriet (1976) as her personal favourite. The third romance Jilly published, Harriet centres on the titular heroine who falls pregnant while at university and subsequently moves to Yorkshire to work as the nanny to a single screenwriter’s two children. You can imagine what comes next…
Corgi Books, Paperback, £10.99
The Common Years (1984)
Jilly famously based much of the Rutshire Chronicles on her own experiences living in the Cotswolds. But before she delved into the countryside, Jilly lived in the capital, just off Putney Common. Well before it was cool to take a daily walk, Jilly set out onto the common each morning – and, ever the observant writer, kept a diary noting the effects of the changing seasons, as well as remarking on the dogs she met on the expanse of green and the gossip she gleaned from their owners and other fellow walkers. For nature lovers, this is the perfect Jilly Cooper book: spliced with juicy tales about life in a small community, The Common Years is a love letter to the natural world, filled with lyrical writing on flowers, trees, birds, dogs and children.
Corgi Books, Paperback, £9.99
