Jilly Cooper novice - where to begin?

[Cowrie]

I’ve never read any JC but fancied giving them a go. I know they’re going to be dated etc and I’m fine with that.

I got Riders from the library and am struggling to get into it. Does it take a while to get into and is it worth persevering? Is there another one of her books that’s better and worth trying instead? Or are these really books you had to have read at the time?!

Try Rivals, which is her second of the Rutshire chronicles. I think it’s better than Riders.

Or watch Rivals and read Polo.

Thanks both. I’ll give Rivals a go. Can’t watch it as I’m outside the UK.

I'm currently listening to Riders as an audiobook. That works for me. I think if I'd tried to read it I might have got bogged down in all the horse show details, which do go on quite a bit.

It's very much of its time in its attitudes towards women etc. Looking forward to Rivals next, which I plan to read and then watch.

Riders is first- it does get better! Rivals is my favourite and Polo is great - it kind of crosses over with Rivals in its timeline.

You could also try her shorter "name" romances - Imogen, Harriet, etc. Imogen is very funny.

You're so lucky!! I WISH I could read them all over again...

I'm outside of the UK, and I've watched it on Disney+ OP?

If you can't get into riders don't bother with Rivals as it follows on. Try reading the 1970's shorter stories - Emily, Imogen, Bella etc

I would persevere with Riders as it leads into Rivals and gives you a really good idea of who Rupert Campbell Black is. He appears in a lot of the other books, as do other characters , so it is worth reading them in order so you know what is going on.

I also love the older short stories.

From memory Riders improves as it goes along - particularly the last third.

But if you really haven't got in to it you could try Rivals as a stand alone novel - although i would read a plot summary of Riders beforehand to get an idea of the background.
Tony Baddingham, Cameron Cook, the Verekers, the O'Haras etc are all new characters.

The characters in Riders are the mainstay of the following books so you really need the history.
I confess I haven't read them since they were published in the 80s I think? Not sure whether I would still enjoy them. I was quite into horses at the time.

I adored Riders and loved the rest of the rutshire chronicles although by they time she got to Mount her writing wasn't as good.

If you don't enjoy it after a few chapters I would give up.

Thanks everyone!

I think I read Wicked first and then The Man who made husbands jealous. I think I went back and read riders onwards from there.

I like Polo best and The Man Who... second. I think it's because the leading men in them are a bit less stuck-up and domineering.