I also agree her nature writing is lovely and her older characters used to be flawed but they generally redeemed themselves in some way.

Mount by Jilly Cooper - SPOILERS! | Mumsnet Mount by Jilly Cooper - SPOILERS! | Mumsnet

Also some very crude national stereotypes (which to be fair has always been the case but particularly glaring here). And Old Eddie sexually assaulting elderly women was revolting. Speaking of authors most loved, the opening scene of Mount! features Rupert’s great-great-great-great-grandfather in a thrilling race across the country, which will remind many of Georgette Heyer’s wonderful romances. Was it fun writing historical fiction for a change? Rupert is consumed by one obsession: that Love Rat, his adored grey horse, be proclaimed champion stallion. He longs to trounce Roberto's Revenge, the stallion owned by his detested rival Cosmo Rannaldini, which means abandoning his racing empire at Penscombe and his darling wife Taggie, and chasing winners in the richest races worldwide, from Dubai to Los Angeles to Melbourne.Despite this, is fair to describe Cooper as an accomplished writer, using the plot as a conveyor belt to roll in and out characters as necessary. I did not struggle to follow the story or comprehend motivations. Cooper also understands the key aspect of horse-racing: Write about the actual racing as little as possible. Characterisation is also, generally, a strong point for Cooper. I hate nearly all of them, but she gives me good reasons to hate them. Too many unlikable characters who never really redeemed themselves. Hated Gala. The Jan subplot was annoying. And Taggie where is your spine?

Mount! by Jilly Cooper | Waterstones

The downtrodden abused wife and Janey's online dating friend was also absolutely pointless and reminded me of a very similar storyline in Apassionata Lastly, it's a bit annoying how we're supposed to still see Rupert as the sex god hottest man in the universe and how he doesn't age. Is he going to be 100 years old and still have this? It's getting a bit tired. It's tedious at best, embarrassingly out of touch with nods of sexism, racism & homophobia throughout. The sex is mostly equine (each to their own but not my bag), the gags are clunky & shoe-horned into unworkable conversations, the plot sketchy & the weight of racing detail dull.There are innuendos and outright sexual comments that sprint across the line of acceptable conduct, circuit the planet to cross the line again, then draw penis emojis on that line. Using this book as a guide to British humour would leave one with the impression that a good joke is something crude mixed with something racist, barely advanced from Fawlty Towers. An incendiary speech is one that muses over how one might say the words “Far Canal.” Shaking breasts is just as good a form of greeting as shaking hands. As for the actual sex, it’s fine, I guess, though one situation made me wonder about Cooper’s knowledge of the mechanics of it. While there is relatively limited shaming, there is unnecessary reveling in excess, with anything involving into alcohol devolving into orgiastic celebrations or, in one case, an actual orgy. Cooper appears to strongly favour characters having children in their late teens or early twenties, leading to a sub-plot of Rupert at risk of being a great grandfather at 60. Racism and homophobia are also run riot through the book, with the homophobic f word used repeatedly and with another f word in front of it on one occasion. There's also some weird phrasing: I did suspect that there had been so gentle age massaging with regards to Rupert approaching sixty and his grandson, Young Eddie, aged twenty-three, but who cares if a few years have been lost along the way?

Rutshire Chronicles - Wikipedia Rutshire Chronicles - Wikipedia

I'm always left wondering whether racing people shag around this much. I suspect it's probably even more prolific than Cooper describes! It is a world in which you can tell who the baddies are because they go to elocution lessons, participate in “fain dining” and have vulgar gardens. As a 14-year-old fan I was frankly astounded that such a thing as a vulgar garden could exist, but apparently it can.Rupert is consumed by one obsession: that Love Rat, his adored grey horse, be proclaimed champion stallion. He longs to trounce Roberto’s Revenge, the stallion owned by his detested rival Cosmo Rannaldini, which means abandoning his racing empire at Penscombe and his darling wife Taggie, and chasing winners in the richest races worldwide, from Dubai to Los Angeles to Melbourne.

Mount! by Jilly Cooper | Waterstones Mount! by Jilly Cooper | Waterstones

I've been reading Jilly Cooper's novels for pretty much my whole adult life and some of the main characters are almost as familiar as family. Far any fans of Riders and Polo I would certainly recommend this novel as a great read. Although I am not very clued up when it comes to horse racing it is clear that Jilly has done her homework and her attention to detail is fantastic. While Jilly Cooper tried to write this novel, her husband's fight with Parkinson's disease began to be lost over three years until his death. Jilly herself had hip surgery from which to recover, and two of her beloved elderly pets also passed away, leaving her with a single dog. She writes gratefully of the reception that she received at various farms and races, as well as thanking her son who contributed with his research. I felt, however, that Jilly just didn't have the vim and vigour to pursue any social commentary to any degree in this story; I think that she was tired. Jilly has basically ruined it all and it could have been such a good book. Racing is interesting and she just didn't need to do that to Rupert and Taggie.I do not have a problem that Rupert is an awful human being. I do not have a problem that he gets everything he wishes for in the end: success, the love of his wife, and a bit of fun with another woman who conveniently moves on. You could even applaud Cooper for writing someone that is not that far from reality. What I do have a problem with is that we are supposed to consider this a happy ending, with a literal tribute to Rupert at the end. We are meant to be worried about the (negligible) risks he took, boo and hiss at the evilness of his enemies, and shout "hoorah for Rupert" when he wins at life. Even if he suffers no consequences, there are consequences for those whom work with him, socialise with him, and are rivaled by him. Yet at the end, everything is tied up in a nice little bow and we marvel at what a fantastic man Rupert is. I just can't buy it. It isn’t as breathlessly compelling as Rivals – but then, almost nothing is – and there’s less sex than usual, although that word will definitely shake you up a bit. But the fact that there isn’t much of a plot doesn’t really matter, because that’s not what Jilly is about. The dating scene in modern Britain is very different to how it was when Rupert was starting out. How do you think he, Billy Lloyd-Foxe and (heaven help us) Rannaldini might have fared in a twenty-first- century world of Tinder and other dating apps?