Dame Jilly Cooper, DBE (born Jill Sallitt; 21 February 1937) is an English author. She began her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several romance novels, the first of which appeared in 1975. Cooper is most famous for writing the Rutshire Chronicles.
Jill Sallitt was born in Hornchurch, Essex, England, on 21 February 1937,[1] to Mary Elaine (née Whincup) and Brigadier W. B. Sallitt, OBE.[3] She grew up in Ilkley and Surrey, and was educated at the Moorfield School in Ilkley and Godolphin School in Salisbury.[3]
After unsuccessfully trying to begin a career in the British national press, Cooper became a junior reporter for The Middlesex Independent, based in Brentford. She worked for the paper from 1957 to 1959. Subsequently, she worked as an account executive, copywriter, publisher's reader and receptionist. Her break came with a chance meeting at a dinner party. The editor of The Sunday Times Magazine, Godfrey Smith, asked her to write a feature about her experiences.[4] This led to a column in which Cooper wrote about marriage, sex and housework. That column ran from 1969 to 1982, when she moved to The Mail on Sunday, where she worked for another five years.
Cooper's first column led to the publication of her first book, How to Stay Married, in 1969, and which was quickly followed by a guide to working life, How to Survive from Nine to Five, in 1970. Some of her journalism was collected into a single volume, Jolly Super, in 1971. The theme of class dominates much of her writing and her non-fiction (including Class itself), which is written from an explicitly upper-middle-class British perspective, with emphasis on the relationships between men and women, and matters of social class in contemporary Britain.
In 1981 Cooper published Intelligent and Loyal, which is the earliest book to be written exclusively about mongrels.[5] In it Cooper created her own humorous typology for mongrels.[6] To gather stories about mongrels for the book, Cooper put an advert in newspapers asking people to share stories about their pets for the book.[7][8] As a result of the book's success Cooper and her dogs subsequently made public appearances, including on The Animals Roadshow in 1989.[9]
Fiction
As with her non-fiction works, Cooper draws heavily on her own point of view and experiences. For example, her own house is the model for Rupert Campbell-Black's. Both houses are very old, although his is larger;[10] her house overlooks a valley called Toadsmoor, while his overlooks a valley called the Frogsmore. She also draws on her love of animals:[11] dogs and horses feature heavily in her books. Woods, hills, fields, pastures and rivers feature frequently. Cooper has been called "the queen of the bonkbuster".[12] Cooper has described the research she undertakes for each novel as "like studying for an A-level".[13] Quoted in the Evening Standard in 1994, Cooper stated that she thought that product placement in literary works was acceptable, and discussed how she had received thank you gifts as a result of unsolicited mentions in her novels.[14]
Romance series
Cooper was encouraged to write romantic fiction by the editor Desmond Elliott, who had read the short stories she had written previously for teenage magazines.[15] Cooper at the time was working in publicity for Harper Collins; Elliott commissioned her with a six-book contract, and the paperback rights were subsequently sold to Corgi Books.[15] The series sold in the 100,000s.[15] The contract was for Cooper to publish a novel every six months.[16]
The first novel in the series was Emily, which was published in 1975.[17] Set on a remote Scottish island its storyline follows Emily who moves to the island after a short courtship and marriage to a volatile artist.[18] Reviews were complimentary,[19][20] although Auberon Waugh noted similarity between Emily and The Devil's Club by Georgette Heyer.[21] The work was compared to Nancy Mitford and Barbara Cartland.[22]Emily was followed by Harriet and then Bella, both published in 1976.[23][24] In Harriet, the titular character becomes pregnant whilst at university, and subsequently works as a nanny for an irascible screenwriter so she can take the baby with her.[25] In review, Barbara Cartland disliked the novel.[26] The novel Bella's storyline revolves around an actress whose fiancee is super-wealthy, but his family do not approve of Bella.[27] The novel mixes romance and mystery, as Bella is kidnapped.[27] Auberon Waugh praised the emotional engagement of the novel, but The Guardian described disappointment since good jokes were lost in the prose.[28][29] In October 1993, seven years after Private Eye had pointed out the similarities, Cooper admitted that sections of Emily and Bella were plagiarised from The Dud Avocado (1958) by Elaine Dundy, but said that it was not deliberate.[30]
The next novel in the series was Octavia, which was published in 1977, set in Britain during the 1970s.[31] Reviews were less positive than the previous novels, but Cooper's word-play continued to be praised.[32] In a review Auberon Waugh expressed frustration with the novel as he felt Cooper could write much better than the text.[33]Octavia was followed by the novel Prudence, which was set in the Lake District in England during a house party.[34][35] the novel had a mixed reception upon publication, including from one reviewer who hoped it was the last in the series.[36] In response Cooper's publisher, Desmond Elliot wrote to the paper announcing that the next novel, Imogen, was due that same year and it too was likely to be enjoyed by 100,000s of readers.[37]
The final novel in the series is Imogen which was published in 1978.[38] At the time of publication, the preceding five novels had sold 340,000 copies.[39] Set between Yorkshire and the south of France, it follows Imogen as she is seduced by a tennis player, who takes her on holiday, but ultimately falls in love with his best friend.[40] The novel was mostly received favourably,[41] although the character of Imogen was described in one review as "spineless".[42] It is cited as an example in academic texts on a variety of themes, including the allure of the French Riviera for Anglo-American culture,[43] and a cultural analysis of cohabitation in the 1970s.[44] Also grouped in the romance series is the short story collection Lisa & Co; each story is based on some of Cooper's earliest writings for women's magazines in the 1960s.[45][46]
In 2017 in her book The Gender Games, Bradford-born writer Juno Dawson described how her obsession with the "ultra-glam" covers of these romances as a child gave her a sense that she was not "very good at being a boy".[47]
The Rutshire Chronicles
Cooper's best-known works are her Rutshire novels. The first was Riders (1985), an international bestseller, and the first volume of Rutshire Chronicles. The first version of Riders was written by 1970, but shortly after Cooper had finished it, she took it with her into the West End of London and left the manuscript on a bus. The LondonEvening Standard put out an appeal, but it was never found. She was, she says, "devastated", and it took her more than a decade to start it again.[48]
Riders and the following books, including Rivals, Polo, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous and Appassionata, feature intricate plots, multiple story lines and a large number of characters. The books are linked by recurring characters and sometimes overlap each other. The stories heavily feature sexual infidelity and general betrayal, melodramatic misunderstandings and emotions, money worries and domestic upheavals.[49]
Each book of the Rutshire Chronicles is set in a glamorous and wealthy milieu, such as show jumping[50] or classical music. These aspects are contrasted with details of the characters' domestic lives, which are often far from glamorous.
The novel Jump! was released in 2010.[51] It features characters from the Rutshire Chronicles in the world of National Hunt steeplechase racing, and tells the transformation of a mutilated horse (Mrs Wilkinson) into a successful racehorse.[51] After publication, it was revealed that Cooper had named a goat in the book (Chisolm) in order to hit back at the critic Anne Chisholm.[52]
Little Mabel series
Cooper also wrote a series of four children's books based on the misadventures of a young mongrel puppy called Mabel.[53] The Little Mabel series comprised Little Mabel, Little Mabel's Great Escape, Little Mabel Wins and Little Mabel Saves the Day.[53] When interviewed in 2013 to discuss the inclusion of a new class for mongrels at Crufts, Cooper described her book Little Mabel Wins as "prophetic" since it featured a protest against mongrel discrimination at that dog show.[54] Two of the books featured in the British children's television series Jackanory, read by Victoria Wood and Liza Goddard.[55][56]
Personal life
In 1961, she married Leo Cooper, a publisher of military history books.[2] The couple had known each other since 1951 (when Jilly Sallitt was about 14 years old), although they did not marry until she was 24 and he was 27. The couple adopted two children.[57] They have five grandchildren.[58] In 1982, the couple left Putney, southwest London for an old manor house in Gloucestershire.[2] The Coopers' marriage was greatly disrupted in 1990 when publisher Sarah Johnson revealed that she and Leo had had an affair for several years.[59][60] Leo Cooper was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2002. He died on 29 November 2013, at the age of 79.[2] In 2010, Cooper suffered a minor stroke.[61]
Cooper was a passenger in one of the derailed carriages in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash of 1999, in which 31 people died,[57] and crawled through a window to escape. She later spoke of feeling that her "number was up" and of being absurdly concerned, due to shock, about a manuscript she had been carrying.
In 2018, Cooper said that because of the Me Too movement, young men and women no longer feel free to flirt with one another, and that she enjoys being the subject of wolf whistles.[62] She is a supporter of the Conservative Party,[63] and was also in favour of the Iraq War.[64]
In 1997, local councillors in Ilkley (West Yorkshire) chose not to recognise Cooper with a street named in her honour.[71] Located on the site of the tennis courts of Ilkley Hall, where Cooper spent some of her childhood, the street was ultimately named after Thomas Maufe, who was awarded a Victoria Cross.[71]
Activism
Cooper has campaigned for the preservation of limestone grasslands in Gloucestershire with the Trust for Nature Conservation.[72]
In 2007 a television adaptation of four of the romance novels was proposed.[81] This was suggested as one of a four-part series focussing on Harriet, Bella, Octavia and one unspecified; the only episode to be filmed was Octavia.[81] The screenplay was written by Jonathan Harvey.[82] As of 2009 there was not date for its screening.[83][note 1] In 2013 The Telegraph reported that Harriet was being adapted into a musical by Eva Rice, novelist and daughter of Tim Rice.[84]
↑ "Salutes to her". Evening Standard. 30 December 1975. p.15.
↑ "Emily by Jilly Cooper". The official website of Dame Jilly Cooper. Archived from the original on 21 May 2025. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
↑ Berridge, Elizabeth (6 November 1975). "Recent Fiction". The Daily Telegraph. p.13. Archived from the original on 22 June 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
↑ "In brief". The Observer. 28 August 1977. p.24. Archived from the original on 20 June 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
↑ Waugh, Auberon (30 July 1977). "Glib Jilly in turgid mood about love". Liverpool Daily Post (Welsh Edition). p.4.
↑ "Pru's problems". The Bolton News. 11 March 1978. p.6. Archived from the original on 21 June 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
↑ "High drama at sea". Burton Observer and Chronicle. 1 December 1978. p.9. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
↑ Ungar, Michael (2 March 1978). "Esther Rantzen minus teeth". Daily Post (Merseyside ed.). p.10. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
↑ Elliott, Desmond (28 March 1978). "Just a rumour". Liverpool Daily Post (Merseyside ed.). p.2. Archived from the original on 21 June 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
↑ St Claire, Lynne (23 January 1987). "24 hour TV". Evening Post. p.2. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
1 2 Grice, Elizabeth (17 September 2010). "Jilly Cooper interview". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
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