Q&A: Jilly Cooper
My favourite smell? 24 Faubourg, by HermèsJilly Cooper was born in Essex in 1937 and brought up in Yorkshire. Her writing career began in 1956 as a cub reporter on the Middlesex Independent, and she...
View ArticleWhy I love Jilly Cooper
Jump!, the latest novel from Jilly Cooper, is, for at least one fan, another glorious romp full of horses, drunken heroines and villainous menBooker prize shortlist? Whatevs. This month has been a...
View ArticleJilly Cooper honoured for 'services to horseracing'
Eclipse Cup recognises author's contribution in her novels to promoting the 'terrific fun' to be had at the racesFrom the Cheltenham Gold Cup to the Grand National, horseracing trophies pepper the...
View ArticleBooks of the year
Jonathan Franzen's family epic, a new collection from Seamus Heaney, Philip Larkin's love letters, a memoir centred on tiny Japanese sculptures ... which books most excited our writers this...
View ArticleThe Guardian Review literary quiz
Test your literary knowledge with a fiendish set of questions from our panel of writers including Iain Banks, Jilly Cooper, David Hare, Nick Hornby, Lorrie Moore and Will Self. Readers with the highest...
View ArticleJilly Cooper: 'I'm a reasonable writer but I'm much too colloquial'
The author talks about growing old, sex and a goat called ChisholmYou've previously admitted that writing your latest novel, Jump!, was "a nightmare". Why was it so difficult?Because I'm much slower...
View ArticleOh Jilly Cooper, please don't give up the sex
Novelist threatens to abandon the sex-near-horses genre to write a proper bookJilly Cooper says she now finds it "difficult" to write sex scenes, even though she used to bash them out with the joyous...
View ArticleThe best holiday reads
Anna Karenina on the beach, The Corrections in Patagonia, Death in Venice overlooking the Lido ... Writers recall their most memorable holiday reads what are yours?John BanvilleI came late to Henry...
View ArticleThe Review Christmas quiz
From snail-smuggling to hair-cuts, our fiendish quiz tests your literary knowledge plus who said what in 2011Find all the answers here1. Who thought to cry out to the angelic orders?
View ArticleMagazine they said would never last celebrates its 20th anniversary
The Oldie is 20 years old. The magazine launched amid considerable scepticism about its chances of publishing more than a couple of issues has survived and thrived.
View ArticleWhy women love Fifty Shades of Grey
It's the fastest-selling novel for adults of all time and it's very adult in content. Why have millions of women been seduced by Fifty Shades of Grey, asks Zoe WilliamsIt's pointless to deny that...
View ArticleBest literary sex scenes: writers' favourites
In the wake of the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon, we asked authors to tell us who does sex best in fictionAlan Hollinghurst does sex rather well, but most of the writers who do it best don't "do" it...
View ArticleSex in the suburbs: a history of the bonkbuster in six books
From kings' mistresses to lusty housewives and rutting polo players, there's wicked entertainment between the coversPreposterously long (962 pages) and very naughty, Forever Amber is set in Restoration...
View ArticleMaeve Binchy: a big-hearted guide to friendship, love and loss
Authors from Anne Rice to Ian Rankin are lining up to mourn the death of Maeve Binchy on Twitter, and I agree: the world has lost one of its warmest writersSad news arrived late on Monday night. The...
View ArticleWhy Jilly Cooper should not let racy Rupert grow old disgracefully
Leading Sire will be Cooper's next racing romp. But do we want to see the beautiful bounder who first appeared in Riders nearly 30 years ago turned into a skirt-chasing octogenarian?I have spoken...
View ArticleWhy Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina transcends the ages
Five writers give their personal takes on the appeal that makes Anna Karenina a literary masterpieceAnna Karenina is probably my favourite novel. More than any other book, it persuades me that there is...
View ArticleTwitter fiction: 21 authors try their hand at 140-character novels
We challenged well-known writers from Ian Rankin and Helen Fielding to Jeffrey Archer and Jilly Cooper to come up with a story of up to 140 characters. This is their stab at Twitter fictionI know I...
View ArticleMedia Monkey's Diary: Jilly Cooper, Lord Patten and Emilia Fox
When tributes were paid last week to Sir Harold Evans as he picked up the Media Society's lifetime achievement award, the most memorable contribution came from Jilly Cooper, a Sunday Times columnist...
View ArticleLeo Cooper obituary
Publisher of military history books and husband of Jilly CooperLeo Cooper, who has died aged 79 after suffering from Parkinson's disease, was a publisher with a zeal for military history, who also...
View ArticleInsomnia and me: Jilly Cooper
'The only thing worse than not sleeping is rereading something I have written in the day and it making me go to sleep'Are you an insomniac? Share your experiencesI've never been a brilliant sleeper,...
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