'Happiness is creaking bed springs'
RT pays tribute to Rivals author Dame Jilly Cooper, who has has passed away aged 88.
Bryn Colton/Getty Images
- Caroline Frost
The death of Jilly Cooper has inspired an outpouring of affection for Britain’s “queen of the bonkbuster”, the author millions of women credit for introducing them to the ways of the world with her wit, warmth and champagne on tap. Only last year, Dame Jilly told RT of her recipe for domestic bliss: “Happiness in marriage comes from creaking bed springs, not so much from sex but from laughter. Well, a bit of both.”
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With 45 titles to her name and 11 million books sold in the UK alone, Cooper was best known for her Rutshire Chronicles, an 11-strong set of doorstop novels following the antics of the Cotswolds horsey set in bedrooms and boardrooms.
Jilly Cooper at the premiere of 2024 Disney series Rivals. Dave Benett/Getty Images for Disney+
A new generation of fans was introduced to this world of bucolic bonking with the Disney+ big-budget adaptation of Rivals. Stars include David Tennant and Danny Dyer, and Alex Hassell as Cooper’s longtime romantic anti-hero Rupert Campbell-Black. The author shared with RT that she’d had initial reservations about the casting of her leading man: “He wasn’t blond, but then I met him and… he is very attractive.”
Executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins recalled the joy of working with Cooper: “Crawling around on her sitting-room floor with storylines on pieces of paper, sitting up late at her kitchen table holding hands with love and our tummies with laughter, receiving scoldings and heaps of wisdom in equal measure.”
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With the second series currently filming, and a fresh interest in the rest of Cooper’s work, her legacy is secured. Not bad for an author who told us, “I just like people to be happy.”
Authors
Caroline Frost
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