Jilly Cooper, Prolific Romance Author Who Wrote ‘Rivals,’ Dies at 88

Jilly Cooper, the famed and hugely prolific British author best known for her hugely popular steamy romance novels, has died. She was 88.

According to her agency, Curtis Brown, Cooper died following a fall.

“Mum was the shining light in all of our lives,” said her children Felix and Emily in a statement. “Her love for all of her family and friends knew no bounds. Her unexpected death has come as a complete shock. 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.”

Cooper began her career as a journalist before moving onto romantic fiction and would find fame with the “Rutshire Chronicles” series of novels, set among the British rural classes and recounting the scandalous bed-hopping antics of the oversexed local aristocracy, most notably the fictitious politician Rupert Campbell-Black. For their raunchy storylines, her books soon became known as “bonkbusters.”

The first novel “Riders” (1985) became an international bestseller, and would be followed by “Rivals,” Polo,” “The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous” and Appassionata.”

Cooper’s work recently regained its place in popular culture thanks to the hit Disney+ adaptation of “Rivals,” starring David Tennant and Aidan Turner, which the author exec produced. The second season is currently in production.

“The privilege of my career has been working with a woman who has defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over fifty years ago,” said her agent Felicity Blunt. “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.”

Added Cooper’s publisher Bill Scott-Kerr: “Working with Jilly Cooper over the past thirty years has been one of the great privileges and joys of my publishing life. Beyond her genius as a novelist, she was always a personal heroine of mine for so many other reasons. For her kindness and friendship, for her humour and irrepressible enthusiasm, for her curiosity, for her courage, and for her profound love of animals.”