Mount by Jilly Cooper - SPOILERS!

[MrsCampbellBlack]

So do not read this thread if you have not read the whole book.

[StStrattersOfMN]

I've been tempted by buttercunt too, but I just can't, it's too awful.

[LanaorAna1]

It was my first thought when I read it :)

The second, really, after I gagged - such a rancid idea.

[tribpot]

Could buttercunt be confined to this thread only - for the sake of all MNkind

[TheOptimisticButtercunt]

I found my people!

[Trills]

[AGirlCalledJohnny]

Apart from what others are saying, another two things really pissed me off. Firstly, it was less that Rupert cheated - although, my stomach did sink and I seriously cannot see what he saw in Galloping Gala ugh - was that Taggie was never afforded the choice to decide if she could live with it. That makes a sucker out of her and let's the pair of them off scot free and I really don't give a shit if Gav was ok with her shagging his boss. It could've been where she learned that it was ok for her to put herself for once first and not rely on the creepy Jan to do it for her.

Secondly, if I'd read 'don't be so fatuous' one more fucking time, I would've screamed. Buy a fucking thesaurus or let the editors earn their crust JC!

[CalmItKermitt]

Ok so questions:

Do we find out about previous characters? Are Lysander and Kitty still together?

Does Taggie die?? 😟

[AGirlCalledJohnny]

Kermitt, yes and no

[Trills]

I was a bit worried at the birthday party that ALL of the old characters coming back meant something terrible was going to happen.

[CalmItKermitt]

So is she cured??

[Trills]

Maths-wise...

All of the books are set over multiple years which makes things tricky.

Eddie says he is 23 the year that Rupert is having his 60th birthday.

Rupert was 18 when he got Daisy pregnant with Perdita at the art-teacher's orgy.

Does that mean Perdita had Eddie at 19? Why on earth would she have done that?

[MorrisZapp]

I've never understood the Rupert CB love on here. I remember as a young woman reading JC and being utterly disgusted by him. He treats people like utter shit, and his behaviour towards women was despicable.

Taggie has always been wet, that's the entire point. She's young, malleable and says fuck all. And RCB reassuring her father etc, boak.

Why does any reader expect these characters to be otherwise?

[Trills]

Is there all that much RCB love?

I don't love HIM, but I do love the stories.

They are all huge ensemble pieces, even in the ones where he features heavily there are chapters and chapters about other people.

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

I'm sure Perdita was 21 at the end of Polo, because Rupert is going to settle a vast sum of money on her, which she then uses to buy Fantasma for Luke. So she definitely hadn't had Eddie by the age of 19! But he must have been born reasonably swiftly, because he's 4 in TMWMHJ, I think, and I didn't think there was that much of a gap between that and Polo.

Taggie wasn't that wet to start with. She does stand up to Rupert a few times - she goes to Tabitha's wedding in Score despite Rupert saying he would strangle her if she did. Although thinking back, he does treat her like shit in Appassionata when he abandons her in the orphanage because she had the gall to say she wanted to stay with baby Bianca and goes off to flirt with Abby. Taggie throws a ham at his head at one point too - possibly her finest hour! I suppose the trouble is that she spends a lot of time in all her married life keeping quiet for fear of Rupert's Force 10 rages - which is emotional abuse right there. She stands up to Rupert when Tero dies and says they'll take Perdita home, but Rupert behaves like a dick and Ricky takes Perdita instead.

Just btw, are Taggie and Perdita the same age? If there was an 18 year age gap between Rupert and Taggie, and Rupert was 19 when Perdita was born, then they must be pretty much the same age. I've never thought of that before - Taggie is always presented as older - she calls Perdita a poor little duck.

[KathyBeale]

I'm in the middle of shifting some furniture but because I am a Jilly geek, when I have finished I am going to draw up a timeline.

[AntheaBelvedon]

JC is the only person I know who refers to jumpers as 'jerseys'. Is it a posh thing?

[MunchCrunch01]

Taggie is allowed to stand up to Rupert when she knows that Rupert will agree she acted correctly when he's over his temper tantrum. It's not real authority, it's another extension of her protecting him from the consequences of his tantrums. i agree, i love the panorama of her books, the settings, the descriptions, more than any one particular character although the Daisy/RFL and Taggie/RC love stories are the best love stories in her books.

[MunchCrunch01]

i remember my grandma talking about jerseys, she'd be 25 years older than JC so that sounds right to me

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

guardian review referencing buttercunt

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

I say jersey when I mean thinnish wool jumper, preferably navy.

[Motherwithflaws]

I'm so excited by the thought of a proper timeline!