Much-loved author Jilly Cooper has died
The novelist, best-known for The Rutshire Chronicles, was 88.
Jilly Cooper, the author of numerous books of fiction and nonfiction, including the inspiration for the Disney+ series Rivals, has passed away aged 88 according to a statement put out by her agency.
Jilly Cooper’s published works include eighteen novels and books of short fiction, in addition to more than twenty nonfiction titles. The Rutshire Chronicles, her best-known series, follows a cast of largely upper-class families in the Cotswolds as they compete in everything from show-jumping to sexual conquest. Frequently referred to as ‘bonkbusters’, the books are known for their sex scenes as much as their humour, plot and characters. Rivals, the second book in the series, was published in 1998 and turned into a Disney+ series starring David Tennant, Alex Hassell and Katherine Parkinson in 2024. Cooper received a Damehood the same year.
The joint statement, by Cooper’s children Felix and Emily, her agent Felicity Blunt, and publisher Bill Scott-Kerr, praises the author’s ‘acuity and insight’ and intricate plots. It also celebrates Cooper as a mother, colleague and friend, with her children writing that ‘Mum, was the shining light in all of our lives.’
Blunt’s quote concludes, ‘Emotionally intelligent, fantastically generous, sharply observant and utter fun Jilly Cooper will be deeply missed by all at Curtis Brown and on the set of Rivals. I have lost a friend, an ally, a confidante and a mentor. But I know she will live forever in the words she put on the page and on the screen.’