The world of romantic fiction has lost one of its brightest, boldest voices. Dame Jilly Cooper has sadly passed away at the age of 88. For generations of readers, Jilly was a beacon of wit, mischief, and joy — a woman who gave us permission to embrace pleasure, laughter, and longing on the page.
Before there was #BookTok, before romantasy filled our shelves, there was Jilly Cooper. In the 1980s and ’90s, when romance was still considered “silly” or “frivolous,” she turned the genre upside down — writing with wicked humour, sharp social observation, and unabashed sensuality about sex, class, love, rivalry, and everything in between. She made women’s desire visible and funny and smart, at a time when it was rarely treated as any of those things.
Her novels weren’t just “bonkbusters,” as tabloids liked to say. They were love letters to human nature: the messy, glamorous, horse-mad, lust-filled chaos of it all. And through it, she created an entirely new kind of hero — the devastatingly charming, exasperating, and eternally hot Rupert Campbell-Black. The ultimate book boyfriend and unapologetic troublemaker, Rupert galloped through her Rutshire Chronicles as a walking contradiction: arrogant and irresistible, selfish and loyal, the kind of man you swear off but never stop thinking about.
Jilly’s own story was just as fearless. She was fired from twenty-two jobs before finding her way into publishing, and her big break came when she told a story at a dinner party about the hilarity and heartbreak of newlywed life. The Sunday Times loved it so much they offered her a weekly column — and Britain gained one of its most beloved voices. She once said she wrote “to add to the sum of human happiness,” and she did just that for decades. It’s no surprise that her books sold over eleven million copies in the UK alone, reshaping how the world saw romance, and inspiring generations of writers who followed.
Her worlds continue to find new life today — most recently when Rivals became a hit Disney+ series (and yes, we’re waiting on bated breath for Season 2). When she was honoured with a damehood earlier this year for services to literature and charity, it felt like the perfect full circle.
She made romance braver, funnier, and infinitely sexier. More importantly, she made joy a feminist act - something we at Saucy Books are big believers of!Â
Dame Jilly Cooper — thank you for the laughter, the lust, the horses, and the unforgettable Rupert Campbell-Black. You made the world a little saucier, and a lot happier.