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The Rutshire Chronicles is a series of romantic novels by Jilly Cooper. The stories tell tales of mainly British upper-class families, as well as the show-jumping and polo crowd, in numerous different sexually charged scenarios, often laced with adultery, illegitimate children, scandal, and sometimes, even death. They are linked by several recurring characters, chiefly Rupert Campbell-Black, and are set in the fictional English county of Rutshire.
Some of these characters, namely Campbell-Black and numerous characters associated with him, also occur in Cooper's novel Pandora, although it is not part of the series[citation needed]. The Campbell-Blacks, Lloyd-Foxes, France-Lynches, and other families from the Rutshire Chronicles also appear in Wicked! (2006). The tales are set in chronological order; however, they are readable as stand-alone novels.
In more recent years, her Rutshire Chronicles have come under fire for dated and problematic portrayals of race, homosexuality, gender roles and sexual consent.[1][2][3]
Cooper's recent works received a variety of responses from critics, with The Guardian praising "her near-magical ability to conjure up a world and populate it with people for whom you feel a deep affection"[4] and The Express calling Jump! "one of her most captivating novels yet."[5]
The Rutshire Chronicles
edit- Riders (1986)
- Rivals (1988; also known as Players[citation needed])
- Polo (1991)
- The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous (1993)
- Appassionata (1996)
- Score! (1999)
- Pandora (2002)
- Wicked! (2006)
- Jump! (2010)
- Mount! (2016)
- Tackle! (2023)
Main/recurring characters
edit- Rupert Campbell-Black
- Agatha 'Taggie' Campbell-Black, née O'Hara
- Marcus and Tabitha Campbell-Black
- Basil Baddingham
- Billy Lloyd-Foxe
- Janie Lloyd-Foxe
- Declan O'Hara
- Ricky France-Lynch
- Cameron Cook
- Lysander Hawkley
- Flora Seymour
- Roberto Rannaldini
- Dame Hermione Harefield
- Cosmo Rannaldini
- Anthea Belvedon
- Dora Belvedon
- Helen Hawkley, née McCauley (formerly Helen Campbell-Black, Gordon, Rannaldini)
- Etta Bancroft
- Amber Lloyd-Foxe
- Valent Edwards
References
edit- ^ Radloff, Lili. "Book review: Mount by Jilly Cooper". Life. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ Morey, Kelly Ana (18 November 2016). "Jilly Cooper's ninth 'bonkbuster' falls short". Stuff. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "21 things that always happen in Jilly Cooper novels". Red Online. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ Laing, Olivia (11 September 2010). "Jump! by Jilly Cooper". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ Lee-Potter, Emma (17 September 2010). "Review: Jump! by Jilly Cooper". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2023.