Jilly Cooper

Dame Jilly Cooper (née Sallitt; 21 February 1937 – 5 October 2025) was an English author and journalist, best known for her long-running Rutshire Chronicles series. She began her career in journalism and published several works of non-fiction, including books on class, animals and marriage, before turning to fiction. Her first book was How to Stay Married, which was published in 1969. She published several collections of journalism, alongside other non-fiction volumes throughout much of her career. Cooper's first novel to be published was the romance Emily, which appeared in 1975 and was followed by five more, as well as a volume of short stories. Cooper was also an anthologist and wrote the Little Mabel series of children's books. Cooper went on to become a prominent figure in British popular literature, noted for her witty social commentary and depictions of upper-middle-class life. Her best-known works are the Rutshire Chronicles of which the 1985 novel Riders was the first; it was followed by ten more volumes with the last instalment, Tackle!, published in 2023. The series is known for its humour, sexuality and depictions of upper-class life; several of the volumes feature the character Rupert Campbell-Black as a key protagonist. Whilst Riders alone sold over one million copies, and her romance novels were compared to those of Nancy Mitford and Barbara Cartland, not all reviews were positive. Private Eye lampooned Cooper and gave her the nickname "Super Cooper", which she later used as a title for one of her own books. Nevertheless, Cooper is recognised as one of the key writers of the bonkbuster novel, along with Jackie Collins, Shirley Conran and Judith Krantz. Whilst few academics have analysed her work, those that have recognise her ability to portray a large cast of characters and her focus on pleasure as a...