Riders - Jilly Cooper Book Club

[JillyCooperBookClub]

It was a perfect spring day. Thickening crimson buds fretted a love-in-the-mist blue sky. The banks were draped with crocuses of the same Lenten purple as the altar cloth. A host of golden daffodils, retarded by the bitter winter, had just reached their prime and nodded their pale heads in approval.

Thus Helen falls for Rupert, and I fell for Jilly Cooper: against our upbringing and our better judgement, and despite every single red flag.

Riders wasn't my first Jilly Cooper, but the first I sought out, after a few stolen pages of another under dappled sun on Guide Camp as a teenager.

It starts deceptively happily, with gymkhanas and very proper sexless dates. But we mustn't be fooled: at every point every character is being judged by every other, and found wanting. Character flaws, damaging childhoods, trauma and tragedy: frankly it's a wonder any one of them made it to adulthood.

Rupert's friendship with Billy predates the neglect and misery of his childhood, so unsurprisingly it is the only healthy and unconditional human relationship he has.

There couldn't be much wrong with Rupert if he inspired friendship like this.

Rupert shivered, suddenly reminded of the desolation of Sunday nights at school, summoned by bells to Evensong, followed by cold ham and bread and marge for supper, and everyone else coming back feeling homesick from days out with their parents. Rupert had never really had a proper home to feel sick about.

And indeed it will be some years before he finds one.

We discussed on the general thread that Rupert is a bit, well, rapey. In Riders he has precisely zero respect for any woman's body autonomy (the very first time he and Helen meet he thrusts his hand into her jumper) and once he has any declared rights over a woman he takes absolute possession of her body.

With a colossal feeling of triumph he pushed her back on to the bed and began to move downwards, kissing her ribs, then her belly.

"No," she gasped, grabbing his head.

Firmly he removed her hands. "Shut up. You're mine now, to do exactly what I like with."

The foursome in Kenya is deeply, deeply troubling. Billy doesn't seem to realise how unwilling Helen is until he has raped her; Rupert is more concerned with how his friends will perceive them, and his response to finding her as dry as a marathon runner's throat is to declare her "useless"; Janey is so turned on by Rupert she doesn't stop to think about it. All three of them assault her together, until she escapes.

Any minute she expected an enraged Rupert to appear and drag her back to the torture chamber.

But the others were enjoying themselves. [...] Playing games of their own, they carried on till morning.

Days later, she falls for Jake: physically and romantically the exact opposite of Rupert. It was inevitable, surely, and as little as I like her I have the greatest sympathy. But I'll never forgive Jake as long as I live.

When I first read Riders I identified strongly with Tory. Poor unloved Tory - considered a fat failure, whilst in truth neither fat nor failing. Jilly is horribly judgemental about an ounce of spare fat on anyone, but she shows us that however miserable Tory might be, she is beautiful and perfect:

She was tallish and big boned, with a huge bust that bounced up and down as she walked. However she stood on the scales, she weighed eleven stone.

(Note: at 5'8", "tallish", that's a BMI of 23.4, and she promptly loses nine pounds when she falls in love, taking her to 22.5)

Actually she was much less far without her clothes on; rather splendid, in fact.

Tory is capable and loyal and loving and stoic and all the characteristics of a balanced human being. She doesn't expect Jake to love her; it's enough that she loves him.

"She loved you," said Fen bitterly. "Isa, Darklis, me, the horses, Wolf, were only extensions of how much she loved you. She knew you didn't love her, but she felt you needed her. That made life easier, that was enough."

"Oh, Christ," Jake groaned, putting his head in his hands. "I only realised in LA how much I loved her. [...] She always seemed so strong that she could cope with anything. I didn't realise I meant so much to her."

[...]

Frantic, he took her in his arms, trying to warm some life into the frail body.

"Don't die," he pleaded for the thousandth time. "Please don't die."

"Jake," came the faintest, faintest whisper.

I was going to talk about snobbery and class, and the animals, and the culture of celebrity, and the freedom of wealth, and Billy, and Malise, and political marriages, and fidelity, but I can't, because tears are streaming down my face yet again and my nose is running. So to cheer myself up, and to evidence Jilly's brilliance, I'll leave you with my favourite exchange:

"Will it be very fancy tonight?"
"Not particularly."
"Shall I wear pants?
Rupert's eyes gleamed. That was getting somewhere. "Certainly not," he said.
[...]
"Chicken, you are wearing pants. What's this?" he pinged the elastic."
"Panties," said Helen quickly. "You thought I'd go to a party without panties?"

[mandycphoto]

Oh god, I'm reading Riders for the 20th (ISH) time and have just delightedly gone through this thread!
Where did you all go?!

[lissa90]

I enjoyed Riders, however, I felt the character development and group dynamics were written far better in Jump! And having unwillingly succumbed to RCB's charms, its nice to see his appearance again. Counting the months down until the new novel is released :)

[JillyCooperBookClub]

Rivals thread is here.

[BalloonSlayer]

I have just finished Riders too and am rather shocked to realise that what I want to happen for Tory is more or less the same as her awful mother wants. Divorce Jake and move on!

[Pacothepidgeon]

Just finished Riders and I loved it! Agree about the ending. I so badly wanted Tory to pick herself up, move on and also prove her horrible mother wrong.

My favourite character was billy right up until he gave Janey a second chance and also the Kenya trip. The scene in Kenya I really didn't enjoy and skimmed over. It also didn't ring true as at this point janey and billy had major trust issues would he really have watched her shag his best friend

I wanted to like Helen and willed for her to leave rupert. But by the end of the book she came over as a neurotic needy drip, I really disliked her.

The real star of the book for me was the horses and the show jumping world. I love horses so found that they were really well written.

Now on to rivals

[BeautifulMaudOHara]

Btw, this is Rannaldinni IMO
(I prob said so before)

[BeautifulMaudOHara]

YY baloonslayer re the end of Riders and Tory

[BestIsWest]

I missed this thread but must have read Riders about 15 times so don't need to re-read to catch up. I will try and read Rivals along with the new thread.

I am old enough to remember reading Riders when it first came out and being at some of it especially the rape scene.

One of the things I love most about Jilly is the fantastic writing about the countryside. I think she is truly underrated as a descriptive writer. I also love all the literary references and the way she draws on her own life for much of the stories.

The Common Years, as mentioned above is a fantastic book and I really wish she had written more diaries.

[Trills]

Moving on up!

The early Jillys definitely get better than Riders.

[GertrudeBadger]

Yes, balloon I absolutely agree, that's exactly what ought to have happened, she gets someone devoted to her like Daisy in Polo - so much more satisfying...

[BalloonSlayer]

So near the end of Riders!

I don't like the very end. It doesn't ring true.

I think Tory should have been asked out by a neighbouring farmer (some of them are very posh dontcha know). Having been persuaded by Fen to have her hair cut and streaked blonde, and pinched some of Fen's clothes as she now fits into them, she goes out with him with great trepidation and has an unexpectedly nice time. He has asked to see her again and she thinks she might, and puts her photo of Jake in a drawer. Then the doorbell rings and it's Jake, asking to come back. He gawps at her and her new slim, streaked, wanton glamour. She notices how weedy he is compared to the Farmer and how he stinks of fags. The book ends with them gazing at each other across the threshold, as she thinks about what she wants now.

(I wonder sometimes if The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous was Jilly's version of this ending.)

[GertrudeBadger]

yes definitely! Looking forward to the re-reading!

[Thurlow]

Yay!

[JillyCooperBookClub]

Just a reminder that I'll be starting a Rivals thread on Monday (18th) if you will want to join in.

[Jermajesty]

I stole my Mum's copy of Riders when I was about 14 (I'm now 39). I've been hooked on JC ever since. I have all her books and periodically go on a massive Jilly-fest....heaven!
Oh and I took up horse riding because of JC!!!!

[Trills]

The personalities definitely follow the writerly instruction of "show,don't tell"
We are not just TOLD that someone is shy or selfish or insecure, we see them behave in that way.

[Thurlow]

They are very fully formed characters. They have good sides, but also flaws. And very specific tastes that they don't vary from.

[EnglishFern]

It's the details isn't it, TooExtra?

The characters are brought to life not just by describing their personalities or what they do or say, but the scent they wear, the undies, the outfits. And you can map a changing character by how these subtle things also change. But because it's so carefully done, the scent used, the shoes etc are exactly evocative of "that sort" of person, whatever "sort" JC is describing.

[MrsHathaway]

I love Jilly because somehow she manages to be real and aspirational at the same time. It makes the aspirational lifestyle that bit more achievable if you see that they're actually ordinary.

There's a bit where Kevin is about to poach Janey, where she is resentful about being expected to do all the (what we would call) wifework as well as being a journalist and writer in her own right. She fails to remember to do washing up or laundry or her greasy roots, and she forgets to submit Billy's paperwork on time so he turns up at events without a valid entry.

It's a kind of voyeurism into what famous people's lives must be: we get a glimpse into what it's like to be Rich and Famous and bugger me if it isn't a lot of hard work and misery.

[Cel982]

I'm reading Riders for the first time. Read Polo years ago in college, and enjoyed the raciness of it (though even then I remember groaning at all the terrible puns). With Riders, though, I'm just kind of appalled at how much of a misogynist JC is. The unchallenged rapey vibe is horrifying; even knowing how different sexual mores were at the time, it's really depressing to see a female writer produce such a woman-hating story.

Of course I'm still reading, because it's such a page-turner But it's grim.

[CallMeMousie]

Oh yes! Cords tucked into sawn-off boots is still the height of glamour to me. She's great on detail, you can just picture what they're wearing and the beautiful countryside, it evokes such strong emotions and takes me back to reading the books when I was younger, as a teen or lying on the grass in Brook Green on my lunch break for my first office job in my early 20s. I think the reading and re-reading makes the books a part of your personal mythology almost!

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

Oh, and the clothes! She's really good at describing clothes - yes, they date (particularly Prudence or Octavia's outfits, or Abby's orange bomber jacket and drainpipes teamed with a black bra), but somehow you always believe in their beauty. I do wonder if it's a class thing too - she's very very good at describing the floral calf-length skirts and open-toed sandals of ladies of a certain age and type, and equally good at doing things like the difference between Sharon in Polo at the beginning and later on, once she's been gentrified. I'm not making my point very well - I mean that she has a great eye for how people dress depending on their age, class and style.

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

Yes, I was a teenager too and I thought of course I would wind up like Fen or Perdita, having a hugely jet-set lifestyle and being brilliant at some sport even though I didn't do any sport. I read Appasionata first and then Polo, then Riders and eventually found Rivals some time later. TMWMHJ was much later.

I love the reality of the characters - they all swear properly, they all feel like unattractive frumps from time to time, they lose their tempers and shout, they eat all the cheese out of the fridge or cut their hair with the kitchen scissors and get bacon fat in it...

I love Rupert. Even if he is an utter cad when you re-read it - he's so funny and flip and insouciant, and he is actually very kind at times when he's not sexually harassing underage schoolgirls . He's lovely to Fen after Billy goes back to Janey. And I adore the LA Olympics when Rocky takes a giant leap into the history books.

I am just horsy enough to appreciate all the horse bits, too - I was a pony-mad little girl who loved Pullein-Thompson books and I had a stubborn Shetland who looked like a Thelwell pony. Never did any gymkhanas or anything like that, though! But the horse characters ring very true to me too.

[MrsMarigold]

I wonder whether Mumsnet would arrange a chat with Jilly Cooper so we could ask her a few questions - and find out a bit more about some of the more disturbing scenes as well as some of the best ones.

I love Jilly but I loved The Common Years - the description of the seasons and dog walking on Putney/Barnes Common are wonderful and Turn Right at the Spotted Dog.

[GertrudeBadger]

I think she's great at writing characters and descriptions of the countryside and also her books exude late 70s/80s English glamour for me - plus they do romp along in a nothing is really serious sort of a way, they always cheer me up. I believe my minor obsession with cashmere as the height of luxury can probably be dated to my reading of JC's books...