While none of the 11 books in the series can be considered “literature”, as Jilly Cooper progressed through the series, she was actually trying to engage in some sort of social discourse, especially in the later books like Mount and Tackle, which complete the redemption arc of RCB, everyone’s favorite man/child/jackass. From the end of the book Jump (which you can skip) and at the beginning of the book Mount, it is obvious that Rupert was feeling overwhelmed by the chaos in his life (kids and grandkids taking advantage of Taggie’s kind heart, work taking him away from home constantly for weeks on end, his father’s deteriorating mental status, Billy’s death, his looming 60th birthday) and he dealt with it by running away, both physically and emotionally. There is an interesting conversation in Mount between Rupert and his business partner, Valent, where Valent tries to counsel him about “slowing down and appreciating what you have or you risk losing everything”. Of course, Rupert ignored his advice. In spite of his personal and professional success, throughout the series, Rupert remains hopelessly insecure, especially where Taggie is concerned. He is also terribly self-centered and rarely takes time to reflect about how his behavior might impact those around him. In Mount, Rupert’s life devolves into a “perfect storm”, triggering a six-month long, massive adult temper tantrum that causes him to push away everyone and everything he loves and engage in bad behavior. His bad behavior with Gala was obviously him searching for the closeness and affection he felt with both Billy and Taggie that he thought was lost to him. He was certainly not in love with her. It was just sex, which is what he always turned to when he felt lost and alone before Taggie came into his life and, after 22 years, he reverted to type. Much has been made of the ridiculous term that he utters when he is intimate with Gala. I think that Jilly Cooper inserted this bit of outrageousness to highlight that Gala was just an object to him, like so many of the women he bonked before he married Taggie, as he never uses her name during those interactions. Also, their interactions were limited, spaced out over the course of 6 months and were precipitated each time by jealousy over attention paid to Taggie by the evil Jan, his demented father’s totally hot, young caregiver who lived with them and with whom Taggie had formed a close relationship because he gave her the much-needed support that Rupert did not give her because he was away on business so often and was crabby and short with her (and everyone else) when he was home. Oh Rupert, how could you do this to Taggie? Well, because, at the of 60, he still harbored some of the massive insecurity that fueled his bad boy behavior as a young man—he had matured over the course of his marriage, but not completely. When he finally realizes that his arrogant, self-centered behavior resulted in his failure to protect and support Taggie at a time when she desperately needed him to be there for her and almost caused him to lose everything he truly loved, Rupert finally looks beyond himself and grows up. In the subsequent book, Tackle, there are a couple of instances when he admits to the reader that, at one time, he might have been tempted to misbehave, but no more. He is clearly more self-aware and his marriage, as well as his relationships with his children and close friends, are on solid ground. Finally!!!!!!!! Mount is a tough book, but it paints a realistic picture of our much-adored RCB and how hard it is to find personal growth, even when surrounded by true love. If you liked Rivals and the Rupert/Taggie relationship arc, you should read it. I must admit, I had to wade through Tackle, but the exchange between Rupert and Taggie on the last page redeems it. 😀