Rutshire Chronicles

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 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]

  1. ^ Radloff, Lili. "Book review: Mount by Jilly Cooper". Life. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  2. ^ Morey, Kelly Ana (18 November 2016). "Jilly Cooper's ninth 'bonkbuster' falls short". Stuff. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  3. ^ "21 things that always happen in Jilly Cooper novels". Red Online. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  4. ^ Laing, Olivia (11 September 2010). "Jump! by Jilly Cooper". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  5. ^ Lee-Potter, Emma (17 September 2010). "Review: Jump! by Jilly Cooper". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2023.