''Pandora'' is a 2002 novel by English writer

Jilly Cooper Dame Jilly Cooper, (born Jill Sallitt; 21 February 1937) is an English author. She began her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several romance novels, the first of which appeared in 1975. Cooper is ...

. It is the seventh novel in the

Rutshire Chronicles The Rutshire Chronicles is a series of romantic novels by Jilly Cooper. Set in the fictional county of Rutshire, characters recur across the series repeatedly, including the upper-class MP Rupert Campbell-Black. The first book in the series was p ...

series. Set in the art world, the book follows the career of Raymond Belvedon, who whilst a young army officer in the Second World War, steals a painting called ''Pandora''. The painting is later stolen from his family home and the novel follows the cast as they locate the painting. The

denouement A story structure, narrative structure, or dramatic structure (also known as a dramaturgical structure) is the structure of a dramatic work such as a book, play, or film. There are different kinds of narrative structures worldwide, which have bee ...

of the novel is a record-breaking sale at

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

with the sale of ''Pandora'' as the centrepiece.

Quentin Letts Quentin Richard Stephen Letts (born 6 February 1963) is an English journalist and theatre critic. He has written for ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''Daily Mail'', ''Mail on Sunday'', and ''The Oldie''. On 26 February 2019, it was announced that Let ...

described the novel as Cooper "back on nostril-flaring, leg-splaying top form", whilst Robert Macfarlane described the novel's sexual activities as usually simple and happy, where "mutuality of

orgasm Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling"), sexual climax, or simply climax, is the sudden release of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, characterized by intense sexual pleasure resulting in rhythmic, involu ...

is a given".

Plot

The book follows the career of Raymond Belvedon, who, whilst a young army officer in the Second World War, steals a painting called ''Pandora.'' The fictional painting is by Raphael and is kept by Belvedon over the subsequent years, hanging in the bedroom of his home after he married Czech artist Galena Borochova. There the painting witnesses Borochova's infidelities and the births of their four children: Jupiter, Alizarin, Siena and Jonathan. The book continues when the children are adults, when a supposed fifth sibling appears, Emerald Cartwright, whose presence upsets Raymond and the siblings. Emerald's boyfriend, Zachary Ansteig, had been looking for ''Pandora'', as it was stolen from his family's chateau. During a fireworks display, the painting is stolen, and the novel follows the cast as they locate the painting. The

of the novel is a record-breaking sale at

with the sale of ''Pandora'' as the centrepiece.

Background

Published in 2002, it is the seventh novel in the

series. It is set in the art world. It is 558 pages long. In preparation for the novel, Cooper researched the art world. The novel features many new characters, but also features returning ones, such as Rupert Cambell-Black. It is set in the fictional county of Larkshire, neighbouring Cooper's other fictional county, Rutshire.

Characters

* Raymond Belvedon * Galena Borochova * Siena Belvedon * Zachary Ansteig *

Rupert Campbell-Black Rupert Campbell-Black is a fictional character in the Rutshire Chronicles series of Romance novel, romance novels written by Jilly Cooper. He also appears in the film and television adaptations of Riders (1993 film), Riders and Rivals (TV series), ...

Reception

Reviewing the novel in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', Robert Macfarlane described how it depicted and lampooned

Britart The Young British Artists, or YBAs—also referred to as Brit artists and Britart—is a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London in 1988. Many of the YBA artists graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Goldsm ...

, conceptual art and the

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...

. This was elaborated on by Wendy Holden, writing in the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'', who described one scene where a raped woman is also menstruating as "very

Jake and Dinos Chapman Iakovos "Jake" Chapman (born 1966) and Konstantinos "Dinos" Chapman (born 1962) are British visual artists, previously known as the Chapman Brothers. Their art explores deliberately shocking subject matters; for instance, in 2008, they produc ...

". John Preston, writing in ''

Modern Painters Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

'', described this aspect of the novel as "very thick-eared satire on the contemporary art scene". Writing in the '' Sunday Independent'', Patricia Deevey praised the pastiche of the art world as a "smart portrait of tsvenal, greedy and pretentious underbelly". Deevey's most expansive praise was for the crowd scenes, that skillfully keep the reader appraised of the action; Deevey compared them to " tracking shots in a

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...

film".

, writing in ''The Standard'', referred to how reviews for her previous two novels had been "sour", but with ''Pandora'' Cooper was "back on nostril-flaring, leg-splaying top form". Holden also discussed how the novel was not politically correct - and that political incorrectness is a hallmark of a Cooper novel. Helena Bertodano, reviewing the book in ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'', described as "absolute piffle, but vastly enjoyable piffle nonetheless". Reviewers who discussed the sexual content were Macfarlane, who commented on how the novel has an increased ratio of sex per page than her earlier novel '' Riders'', and that the sex is usually simple and happy, where "mutuality of

is a given". He also pointed out that in ''Pandora'' there's a far greater range of sexual activities described than in other Cooper novels, that are not just vaginal penetration by a penis. In contrast, Deevey described the amount of sex scenes as "modest" and that they had substantial meaning for the plot.

Cover

For its paperback release, the cover was redesigned to a "clean, striking new image" and this was praised by Sarah Broadhurst writing in ''

The Bookseller ''The Bookseller'' is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine and the website. The magazine is home to the ''Bookseller''/Diagram Prize for Oddes ...

.''

References

External links

* Borrow Pandora from

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{Authority control 2002 British novels Novels by Jilly Cooper Rutshire Chronicles