#jilly-cooper

#jilly-cooper

Jilly Cooper's memorial last week started with the dean of Southwark telling a story from her funeral last year: as the congregation made their way to her final resting place, five horses ambled majestically across a field, and came to stand in formation, looking at the grave. They would not be budged and their intention was crystal clear: they were paying their horse-respect (this is not verbatim by the way) to an author who did as much for equine-kind as she did for humans.

Even if you never read her bonkbuster books, it was still possible to be a fan because the author was such an appealing character

The 'bonkbuster' queen Jilly Cooper was a cultured author whose modesty and humour lit up her novels

Jilly Cooper was a genuinely merry soul, with a gimlet eye and a determination to see the best in absolutely everything; even when her life was difficult, she brightened every room with her spaniel hair. What fun she had and shared with us, and what a wonderful legacy she left. It would be easier to count the novelists of my generation who didn't read her. Not just the world-conquering Riders

unexpected death has come as a complete shock.