RiP Jilly Cooper

[Daphnedot]

So bloody sad 😢

Oh no! Very sad.
(& very sudden)
RIP Jilly, & thanks for all the lovely books xxx

Exactly this

I am genuinely saddened to read this. Thank you Jilly for the many hours of pleasure.

Really sad news. Bless her.

My first dog was named Badger after RCB’s black lab. Best dog ever.

Rivals and Apassionata are favourites of mine, I've read all the Rutshire books and some of her earlier 'name' books too.

I will always think of Jilly on the first of May!

Thanks, Jilly, for all your books - a life well lived!

RIP Jilly
one of my favourite authors of all times. I didn’t have a favourite, I loved them all.

100% agree that a very sudden/short decline in your own home at 88 is a very good death. But it’s quite a moment. She was something special and beloved, and left a trace of joy and champagne in so many places. RIP.

I absolutely agree I just hope she wasn’t on her own for too long, but it’s how I’d want to go in general, successful til the end and enjoying life.

I’m reminded of her book ‘How to Survive Christmas’ which in my edition had a noose made of tinsel on the cover. The acerbic sting of her writing made her something much more than fluff.

Jilly got me through very dark teenage years and I still return to her books when I need a little bit of tlc. RIP Jilly, may you be frolicking with Badger, drinking champers and laughing with RCP about the latest shenanigans in the village.

I found all her books extremely silly and predictable, but think of great nostalgia of the whole 80s/90s bonkbuster era....the precursor of chit lit! Shirley Conran 'Lace', Barbara Taylor Bradford 'A Woman of Subtance', Judith Krantz 'Ill Take Manhattan' etc etc and Jilly Cooper was definately a huge part of the whole thing. They were probably all poorly written and wildly improbable, but they played a part in starting to change the perception of women in books and show women who were powerful and successful against all the odds - the dawn of the 80s woman who was more than a secretary or girl Friday, but the boss!

Oh, that's sad! And so unexpected. She wasn't ill - how can a fall kill someone? That's assuming she just fell over, as opposed to falling down a flight of stairs or something.

A similar thing happened to Ivana Trump, I think. No illness, just a fall at home and that was it. I think Cilla Black, too. 😢

Read this about her - she sounds like an absolute legend! Her books are equally legendary!

She had said she was known as the "unholy terror" at school, and was sacked from 22 jobs before finding her way into book publishing

I still think about ostentatious weddings etc held in ornate marquees etc as a 'tented wank'! Only yesterday we were discussing kitchen sups too.

This is sad; there was so much fun in Jilly's writing and a genuine appreciation of pleasure. I'm off to track down any copies of Octavia, Imogen etc that I can find, and then I'm going to trim my split ends with the bacon scissors and empty a bottle of Fracas over myself in tribute.

Thanks Jilly, it's been ravishing.

I loved Bella, which I read at about the same age, and really fancied Laszlo.😅

Such a shame she had a fall when she was otherwise in good health.

I’m feeling actual grief! For Jilly, but also for her untold stories. Rupert dies with her. Poor Taggie. Jilly’s books have got me through some really hard times, she’s been my constant companion since I was about 15 and I’ve never tired of her. Thank you Jilly, you will be really missed.

I have scored points in the pub quiz a couple of times on questions about polo, team mates were very impressed, thought I moved in those circles, when in reality it all came from JC!

Oh Jilly! You will be greatly missed! I hope you find plenty of bubbly, gorgeous horses and an absolutely filthy mini in the next place xxx

Oh that actually gave me a little lump in my throat. 😢

So sad to hear 😢. Do listen to her on Desert Island Disks she reminds me of a character in her books

I'm imagining them having a good natter together somewhere posh, over a Champagne Breakfast or dainty English Afternoon Tea 🤗

RIP Jilly. I absolutely love her books and she was wonderful too. Had a tear in my eye when I got the notification on my phone

Eeeeeh this made me laugh 🤣. Rupert and Helen. I’ve found my people on this thread.

She talked to me once at a book signing. I knew she liked the novels of Barbara Pym and asked if her dog Barbara had been named for her. She said she had been! We spoke about Barbara Pym books and she asked which was my favourite. I said it was always the last one I re-read and she said that was exactly how she felt. She signed my book "To a fellow Barbara fan." Although it wasn't the book she was currentle promoting, she signed "The Common Years" book for me and I told her I read it over and over when I was living abroad and felt occasional pangs of homesickness. When I visited my daughter in London, I went down to Putney and followed one of JC's regular walks with her dogs. She might not have been the absolutely best writer but she brought so much pleasure to countless people.