Jilly Cooper, the bestselling author whose novels became synonymous with sex and scandal, and hysterical social commentary to boot, has died at the age of 88. Her agent, Felicity Blunt, confirmed the awful news, calling Cooper “brilliance embodied” and a writer who “defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over 50 years ago.”
Cooper died on Sunday morning following a fall. Her children, Felix and Emily, released a joint statement describing her passing as “a complete shock.” They added: “We are so proud of everything she achieved in her life and can’t begin to imagine life without her infectious smile and laughter all around us.”
Cooper, who became well known for her work on The Rutshire Chronicles, made her name and broke out in a big way with Riders (1985) and its follow-up Rivals (1988), both of which charted the glamorous and chaotic scandals of England’s upper classes. Rivals was adapted into a Disney+ series last year, bringing her work to an entirely new generation. Critics of the time called her books “bonkbusters”, but she preferred the term “shagbusters”, which was a sign of her wit.
Who Was Jilly Cooper?
Cooper was born in Hornchurch, Essex, in 1937, and attended Godolphin School in Salisbury before taking on a career in journalism. She began as a cub reporter at the Middlesex Independent in 1956 and later worked in PR. By the late 1960s, she was writing witty columns for The Sunday Times and later The MailonSunday. Her first nonfiction book, How to Stay Married, was published in 1969, and her debut novel Emily arrived in 1975.
In her personal life. In 1961, she married publisher Leo Cooper, who proposed on their second date. After an ectopic pregnancy left her unable to have children, the couple adopted Felix and Emily. “I felt I’d let Leo down,” she later said, “but we were encouraged to adopt. I was 31 when Felix arrived, and Emily came into our lives three years later.”
Over the course of her career, Cooper published 18 novels, including Riders, Rivals, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, and Score!Her works were defined by what her publisher Bill Scott-Kerr described as “glorious storytelling, wicked social commentary and deft, lacerating characterisation.” He added: “It is no exaggeration to say that Riders, her first Rutshire chronicle, changed the course of popular fiction for ever.”
Our thoughts are with her family and friends.
