I’ve never read any Jilly Cooper! I’m torn between reading her now because of how much you and others talk about her books.. or just watching the show and listening to the podcast instead (I think the latter might win) x
Thank you so much for doing a podcast - I am a long term Jilly Cooper super fan. Quite oddly Jilly Cooper's early books Imogen et al were introduced to me by a friend who's mother, it turned out, was having an affair with Leo Cooper. An odd twist of fate...
I thought it was mostly BRILLIANTLY cast......I am still 5% off RCB however....
Katherine Parkinson is def one of the stand-out performances, I agree. And that is a wild piece of Leo Cooper lore! She is pretty open about their infidelities/ immense love affair - in a way I’ve always found very honest/ refreshing (the Esther Perel school of thought that affairs do not always kill a marriage)
I think we all grew up on a diet of JC, Jackie Collins, Judith Krantz and Shirley Conran (who can forget the line, "Which one of you bitches is my mother?") I remember too a friend passing her mother's battered copy of Valley Of The Dolls around like contraband...ah, the 80s!
I have never read Judith Krantz!! A lot of Jackie Collins - with all those amazingly creepy titles like 'Daddy's Girl' - I found Valley of the Dolls SO DEPRESSING??? and Mills & Boon, which I weirdly bought by the bucket full from charity shops aged like 11 (god my mum was so tolerant.) Lace I am sure I have read but have no recollection over -- might revisit. I was also in my pre-teens obsessed with Jodie Picoult and Jill Mansell (still love her, so feel good.)
I revisited Scruples by Judith Krantz recently and I can highly recommend it. Soapy and filthy and also filled with fabulous details of clothes, food, and a lavish department store that seems to be Biba-esque, but on a massive scale, and in LA. I realised after rereading that I must have imprinted on the store description in my youth as I’ve been trying to recreate it small scale in the shops I have owned as an adult!
Late to this but sort of glad I'd saved it... Crashing through Rivals and your podcast has been a slice of joy during this thoroughly depressing week. Thank you sm <3
The JC I always think of first, is Riders. BUT I think my fave one is The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous! And I also (not just for titular reasons) love Pandora, for its portrayal of art monsters. I personally find the more recent ones - Mount, Tackle, Wicked - less compelling so I would end on those rather than start with them
The dream job for you - and the dream podcast for us! I re-read the book over the summer and binged the series last weekend with my husband who now wants to read some JC. I went on an autumnal wreathmaking course last weekend on my own, a little apprehensive about the other ladies there until I heard the immortal words, "bare bottom in the opening scenes" - instant success.
So here for this. Love Jilly Cooper, loved the tv adaptation. Diving into the podcast asap!
All the episodes downloaded! Also can we please discuss the absolute delight that is Gertrude?
Immediate action is my love language - so many thanks for that. And yes, Gertrude is CLEARLY the heroine
I’ve never read any Jilly Cooper! I’m torn between reading her now because of how much you and others talk about her books.. or just watching the show and listening to the podcast instead (I think the latter might win) x
Thank you so much for doing a podcast - I am a long term Jilly Cooper super fan. Quite oddly Jilly Cooper's early books Imogen et al were introduced to me by a friend who's mother, it turned out, was having an affair with Leo Cooper. An odd twist of fate...
I thought it was mostly BRILLIANTLY cast......I am still 5% off RCB however....
Gertrude......AND Lizzie Vereker!
Katherine Parkinson is def one of the stand-out performances, I agree. And that is a wild piece of Leo Cooper lore! She is pretty open about their infidelities/ immense love affair - in a way I’ve always found very honest/ refreshing (the Esther Perel school of thought that affairs do not always kill a marriage)
I think we all grew up on a diet of JC, Jackie Collins, Judith Krantz and Shirley Conran (who can forget the line, "Which one of you bitches is my mother?") I remember too a friend passing her mother's battered copy of Valley Of The Dolls around like contraband...ah, the 80s!
I have never read Judith Krantz!! A lot of Jackie Collins - with all those amazingly creepy titles like 'Daddy's Girl' - I found Valley of the Dolls SO DEPRESSING??? and Mills & Boon, which I weirdly bought by the bucket full from charity shops aged like 11 (god my mum was so tolerant.) Lace I am sure I have read but have no recollection over -- might revisit. I was also in my pre-teens obsessed with Jodie Picoult and Jill Mansell (still love her, so feel good.)
I revisited Scruples by Judith Krantz recently and I can highly recommend it. Soapy and filthy and also filled with fabulous details of clothes, food, and a lavish department store that seems to be Biba-esque, but on a massive scale, and in LA. I realised after rereading that I must have imprinted on the store description in my youth as I’ve been trying to recreate it small scale in the shops I have owned as an adult!
Late to this but sort of glad I'd saved it... Crashing through Rivals and your podcast has been a slice of joy during this thoroughly depressing week. Thank you sm <3
I absolutely loved this series (and have just started the podcast as didn’t want spoilers, am so enjoying!)
I’ve never read any Jilly Cooper before, but would now love to start, can anyone recommend a good one to start?
The JC I always think of first, is Riders. BUT I think my fave one is The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous! And I also (not just for titular reasons) love Pandora, for its portrayal of art monsters. I personally find the more recent ones - Mount, Tackle, Wicked - less compelling so I would end on those rather than start with them
Thank you! This is very helpful ☺️
I’ve got to get on this
This is the absolute dream - I can’t wait to finish the series so that I can listen to the podcast!
The dream job for you - and the dream podcast for us! I re-read the book over the summer and binged the series last weekend with my husband who now wants to read some JC. I went on an autumnal wreathmaking course last weekend on my own, a little apprehensive about the other ladies there until I heard the immortal words, "bare bottom in the opening scenes" - instant success.
Would you say to read the book first? I'd been wanting to watch the show but had no idea it was based on a book!
I love the books but you don’t have to read it first, no
Loved the show and loved your podcast! Thankyou!!!
I really think Felicity Blunt and Dame Jilly need to get you to do a new audio version of Rivals
Hahah that would be fun slash take a gazillion hours (that book is LONG 🤣)