The author Jilly Cooper has died aged 88. Cooper’s books were “bonkbusters” – a form of blockbuster fiction that was most popular in the 1980s and 1990s, characterised by explicit sex, scandalous plots and large casts of characters.In her 1993 novel, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, a reporter rings famous singer Georgie to tell her that her husband Guy had been voted “hubby of the year”. She elaborates: “To be quite honest there wasn’t a lot of choice. Faithful husbands are an endangered species.” This quote is emblematic of the writing that made Cooper famous. It’s full of irreverent wit, tongue-in-cheek scrutiny of British society – and misbehaving men.Cooper was one of the four major bonkbuster authors, alongside Jackie Collins, Shirley Conran and Judith Krantz. Her racy, ribald romps through the fictional county of Rutshire reached millions of readers. And as we discovered when talking with bonkbuster readers while researching our forthcoming book, they continue to be beloved by many.The author was born in Essex on February 21 1937, educated in Yorkshire and Wiltshire, and, at the age of 20, became a junior reporter for The Middlesex Independent. This was the beginning of what would be a highly successful career in journalism. Cooper went on to write long-running columns in The Sunday Times Magazine and The Mail on Sunday, which offered a light-hearted look at women’s domestic lives. Cooper in 1974. Allan Warren, CC BY-SA These columns formed the basis of many of her non-fiction books, such as How to Stay Married (1969) and How to Survive from Nine to Five (1970). However, she was also busily writing fiction, and after some success publishing short fiction in magazines, Cooper published a series of romantic novels in the 1970s and 1980s, all with women’s names in their titles. These works offered an account of the urban zeitgeist for young single women of the time, discussing issues like rape, marriage, pregnancy and careers.But Cooper is best known for her Rutshire Chronicles (1985-2023), a classic bonkbuster series set in the Cotswolds. Characterised by her trademark tongue-in-cheek style, the 11 novels in the series share a huge cast of characters – anchored around the arrogant, irresistible Rupert Campbell-Black – and a wide range of settings.These books are best known, in the words of one of the readers we talked to, as “full, fat, fun, frothy novel[s] set around class and privilege and horses”. Many of the Rutshire Chronicles blend interpersonal drama with the social drama of the equestrian world: from show-jumping and sex in Riders (1985), polo and illegitimate daughters in Polo (1991), and horse racing and even more sex in Jump! (2010) and Mount! (2016).However, horses weren’t the only focus. Other novels in the Rutshire Chronicles explored regional television rivalries, bad husbands and infidelity, orchestral drama, murder and opera, art theft, British schools and premier league football.Sex is good for women (or should be)Cooper’s books are famous for their sex scenes. From the scandalous (the naked tennis match in Rivals) to the sticky (characters using grass to wipe themselves clean after an al fresco romp), she did not shy away from putting sex on the page.Many of Cooper’s depictions of sex are very funny. However, there is a clear message throughout – women are entitled to good sex, and it is the job of their (usually male) partners to give it to them.Rupert Campbell-Black is Cooper’s most famous stud (horses aside), but he is very bad at satisfying his first wife Helen. In Riders, Cooper wrote that Helen “longed for love but, having been married to Rupert for six and a half years … felt she had become what he kept telling her she was: boring, prissy, brittle and frigid”. However, the problem is not Helen. With a different, more attentive partner – Rupert’s rival Jake – Helen has a sexual awakening. The trailer for The Rivals, a recent Disney adaptation of Cooper’s novels. The entire premise of The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous revolves around male neglect (sexual and otherwise). Unsatisfied wives engage the services of a man named Lysander in the hope that some competition will reengage their neglectful, philandering husbands. Along the way, they have considerably better sex with Lysander, whose consideration in bed has his partners “bubbling like a hot churn of butter”. The titular husbands eventually learn that they must do better in order to keep their wives, sexually and otherwise.Sex aside, what became clear from our research was how much Cooper’s works meant to their readers. Former prime minister Rishi Sunak might be Jilly Cooper’s most famous reader, but many of the readers we spoke to were particularly fond of her books, re-reading them repeatedly for comfort and familiarity. One described her books as “like a friend”.For some, the appeal was escapism “into this incredibly glamorous world that you … could have some ambition of being part of yourself when you grew up”. For others, Cooper’s books were educational, teaching readers about how to navigate the unfamiliar world of the British upper classes, or providing a form of sex education. Several of our readers noted the unusual (for the time) frankness of Cooper’s novels.Cooper was the last living “big four” bonkbuster author. Her death marks the end of an era. However, the recent television adaptation of Rivals seems to have attracted a new audience. Filming for a second season commenced in May 2025 – it seems Cooper’s stories live on.Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.