It was announced by her family this morning that beloved English author, Dame Jilly Cooper, has passed away at the age of 88. Cooper was perhaps best known for writing The Rutshire Chronicles, a series that recently saw a Disney+ adaptation starring David Tennant.
Her passing was released via a public statement from Coopers children Emily and Felix. The pair said that Coopers passing was “complete shock” to them both as well as adding “we are so proud of everything she achieved in her life and can’t begin to imagine life without her infectious smile and laughter all around us”
“Jilly defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over 50 years ago… Jilly will undoubtedly be best remembered for her chart-topping series The Rutshire Chronicles and its havoc-making and handsome show-jumping hero Rupert Campbell-Black,… You wouldn’t expect books categorised as bonkbusters to have so emphatically stood the test of time but Jilly wrote with acuity and insight about all things — class, sex, marriage, rivalry, grief and fertility… Her plots were both intricate and gutsy, spiked with sharp observations and wicked humour…. She regularly mined her own life for inspiration and there was something Austenesque about her dissections of society, its many prejudices and norms.” – Felicity Blunt (Agent)
