Dame Jilly Cooper has died at the age of 88, her agent has confirmed. Cooper was best known for her 'bonkbusting' books, like Rivals from her Rutshire Chronicles, which has since been made into a major TV series.
With a career spanning decades, her writing captured the hearts of millions, mixing steamy romance with sharp wit and a keen eye for human nature. In a statement, Cooper's agent Felicity Blunt said: "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."
Cooper was also an avid lover of the countryside and rural life, having settled in the Cotswolds. Whether she was penning a steamy affair or reflecting on the quiet beauty of the English countryside, her words never fail to entertain, provoke, and sometimes, leave us in stitches.
Here are some of her best quotes that showcased her wit, wisdom and undeniable charm.
Best Jilly Cooper quotes
I’ve always had rescue pets because they need rescuing. I think the bond between a rescue dog and its owner is stronger.
I'm not wild about holidays. They always seem a ludicrously expensive way of proving there's no place like home.
Hurting other people is not excusable because you've been hurt yourself.
The male is a domestic animal which, if treated with firmness and kindness, can be trained to do most things
In our vile English climate, rough winds shake not only the darling buds of May, but of June, July, August and September as well.
The looniness of the long distance runner - pounding along country lanes, so anxious to lop off seconds he never stops to marvel at a field of buttercups or a flock of geese against the sky.
We all need the pipe dream of writing the great novel, or winning the pools, or becoming managing director and kicking all our colleagues in the teeth. The world is deep and dark and full of tigers, and we need those shimmering white castles in the air to creep into when life gets unbearable.
Out in the country, autumn was busy daubing the woods in orange and yellow. Rooks and gulls argued over newly ploughed fields. Behind veils of little cobwebs, the hedgerows blushed with berries.
It's a good idea to wait a few months before joining anything when you arrive at a village. A bookseller friend who retired to nearby Oxfordshire, and was worried he might be bored, got himself on to every village committee in the first six months, and spent the next ten years extricating himself.
I would really like to spend more time with the family. Every time I go abroad I miss them all dreadfully.
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Top image: Dame Jilly Cooper at a special gala screening after party for Rivals in London, 2024. Credit: Getty