Is this Peak Jilly?

[JoyousAsOtters]

I have just made myself an omelette using wild garlic foraged from the woods on a walk with my labrador. I can confirm wild garlic is quite whiffy, not sure I’d go so far as to describe it as a ‘sexy reek’.

Have I reached Peak Jilly or is there anything else I could be doing this afternoon that would be Jillicious????

I think Caitlin and Flora are loosely based on Jilly’s own daughter. There are certainly bits in The Common Years that are repeated in Rivals.

Did Jilly and her husband adopt children-I vaguely remember reading that?

I have a terrible confession... I’ve never read any Jilly Cooper.

Where should I start, please?

Yes, they adopted two, Felix and Emily.

The Common Years is a lovely book, a glimpse into Jilly’s life during the 70s and 80s. It ends when they move to Gloucestershire.

I would so love to read the rest of her diaries - I hope she kept some.

Where should I start, please?

The "name" stories (Bella,Octavia,Prudence etc) are all stand alone (and lightweight , quite sweet , you know there will be a Happy Ending)

The other books introduce the characters in "Riders" so start with that one .

I liked Riders,/Rivals/,The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous/, Polo

Then I lost interest and tried the others but couldn't finish them .
There's Score /, Appasionata,/Pandora,/ Wicked /, Mount ( I don't know if I've missed any ) they tend to jump about in the time frame so they overlap (otherwise Rupert would be 112 )

You can either start with Riders, the first of the Rutshire Chronicles, and the first of the Bonkbusters or with one of the Girls name books from the 70s (Imogen, Emily, Harriet etc). They will probably seem very dated now. I still love them though.

I agree with 70is BTW. I’ve read them all but only really liked Riders/Rivals/Polo/TMWMHJ.

I think Appassionata has my favourite bit of all, even though it's not my favourite book - when Taggie invites Helen over for Christmas because she feels sorry for her, and it is the most awkward Christmas ever. I love it.

I think my favourite book is Rivals though - all that excellent eighties fashion!

Thank you! I’ve just downloaded Riders. This is exactly what I need.

I always maintain that she is one of the best writers about the English countryside. Very underrated in some ways.

Which is the one where Tabitha marries Isa Lovell? And she's drinking too much and has a miscarriage. It was really miserable.

It may or may not have been the one where Flora is a viola player in an orchestra? I remember her causing a being chip pan fire which [hero] puts out by "throwing a bucket of water on it" - in reality that would make it explode and you would die a horrible death in your kitchen.

It's just that there are a few I don't think I have read and would like to catch up on, but I really don't want to read that one again, it was crap!

@BalloonSlayer I think it’s Score!

That's "Score!" Balloon. Also includes murder, opera and a really weird flashback/historical fiction section I think.

Ah thank you! I wonder whether I have read Appassionata? That's not the one with the artist with children named after paint colours is it? Something to do with a missing work of art? ( that was crap and all.)

Behind all these questions is - I don't think I have read all of Jilly's books and I like the idea of reading another one and want one I know I haven't read. You are all being very helpful

Have I read a JC book? There's an evil orchestra conductor, he has been murdering young women. In one scene he tries to drown a girl in a chair while having sex with her. There's a mistress who lives in a cottage. Is that JC?

Yeschatnickname that's Score, it's not her best.

Pandora is the one with the artist and children named after paint

Which women did the conductor (Rannaldini?) murder??

I had a lovely JC fantasy the other evening when I was out riding...
I was thrashing my way through the raspberry canes that I found at the bottom of the garden of my inherited cottage (dotty great aunt). Of course I was in sandals and shorts so my legs got very scratched. A car rolled up and stopped outside the cottage, an attractive older man had broken down. I invite him in for a supper of omelette and mushrooms and the last of the cooking brandy. He ends up bathing my scratches in chamomile tea while he waits for his secretary to pick him up.

It was all very tense and before sex excitement. I'm sure that at a few days later he would drop by with some champagne and things would go from there...

Placemarking as I love Jilly; my guiltiest pleasure.

I also have an attractive older man friend called Rupert that I occasionally shag

Well I’ve had a family day today but JoyousDog did disgrace me by charging randomly across a castle grounds in pursuit of someone else’s picnic.
Of course in Jilly this would have led to my hot secret affair being discovered but luckily a) am very happy with lovely long-suffering DH and b) Jdog is likely to do that to any passing picnic making me too much of a slapper even for Jilly.

I haven’t read any of the girl name books but Riders onwards up until the racehorse one a few years ago (Mount?) which I felt quite sad about. I get the feeling that since her husband became so ill and died Jilly has lost her spark and it felt like seeing an old friend stumbling and falling somehow.

So I’d recommend starting with Riders, Rivals and Polo - even if you don’t like horses. Don’t think you’d like the books if you don’t like dogs though?

I don't think I can forgive Jilly for Mount. She's ruined Rupert C-B for me. (I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read it)

Rannaldini didn't murder anyone, Rozzy killed them disguised as Rannaldini. And I think she killed him too.

I suspected that was a JC. Is there a nasty chair scene?