The Rutshire Chronicles is a series of romantic novels by

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 ...

. Set in the fictional county of Rutshire, characters recur across the series repeatedly, including the upper-class MP

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), ...

. The first book in the series was published in 1985, and the most recent, as of 2025, in 2023. Three of the books from the series, '' Riders,

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

'' and '' The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous'', have been adapted for television, in 1993, 2023 and 1997 respectively.

Background

The series is set in the fictional county of Rutshire, in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

. The name of the county links to the sexual content of the books. Cooper has written over thirty other books, in addition to this series. The first book in the series was published in 1985, the most recent ''Tackle!'' in 2023. The series follows a cast of wealthy and largely upper-class families, and is known for its sexual plotlines and scandalous scenes. Indeed the ''Financial Times'' described the series in 2024 as "legendarily filthy". Cooper is meticulous about her research for of the novels. This includes travelling to Palm Beach and Argentina to research ''Polo.'' Cooper has acknowledged that the character of Rupert Campbell-Black was inspired by: the 11th Duke of Beaufort;

Andrew Parker Bowles Brigadier (United Kingdom), Brigadier Andrew Henry Parker Bowles (born 27 December 1939) is a retired British Army officer. He is the former husband of Queen Camilla, who is now the wife of King Charles III. Early life and family Andrew Parker ...

, the former husband of

Queen Camilla Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. Camilla was raised in East ...

; and the 21st Earl of Suffolk. Each of the books includes a character list prior to the main text. These lists have been described by Tamara Atkin as a "gateway to Cooper's over-sexed landscape of horse-riding toffs" but having the additional function of familiarity for the reader throughout the series.

Characters

* Agatha 'Taggie' Campbell-Black, née O'Hara * Marcus Campbell-Black * Tabitha Campbell-Black * Basil Baddingham * Billy Lloyd-Foxe * Janie Lloyd-Foxe * Declan O'Hara * Ricky France-Lynch * Cameron Cook * Lysander Hawkley * Flora Seymour * Roberto Rannaldini * Hermione Harefield * Cosmo Rannaldini * Anthea Belvedon * Dora Belvedon * Helen Hawkley, née McCauley (formerly Campbell-Black, Gordon, Rannaldini) * Etta Bancroft * Amber Lloyd-Foxe * Valent Edwards

Rutshire Chronicles books

# '' Riders'' (1986) # ''

'' (1988; also ''Players'' in the USA) # ''

Polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

'' (1991) # '' The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous'' (1993) # '' Appassionata'' (1996) # '' Score!'' (1999) # ''

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hesiod related it, each god cooperated by giving her unique gifts. Her other name—inscribed against her figure on a white-ground '' ky ...

'' (2002) # '' Wicked!'' (2006) # '' Jump!'' (2010) # ''

Mount! ''Mount!'' is a 2016 novel by English author Jilly Cooper. It is the tenth book in the Rutshire Chronicles series. The plot centres on Rupert Campbell-Black's efforts to have his horse Love Rat named as Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland, ...

'' (2016) # '' Tackle!'' (2023)

Adaptations

Several books from the series have been adapted for television, the first was '' Riders'' which was aired as a miniseries, despite being shot as a television film, in 1993. ''

'' was due to be adapted as a TV mini series by Anglia TV in the same year. In 1997, ''The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous'' was adapted as a TV miniseries for ITV, by Anglia Television. In 2016 the production company Filmwave acquired the rights to the novel, alongside those of nine other Rutshire Chronicles. The company was behind the 2024 adaptation of ''

.'' A second series of ''Rivals'' was commissioned in 2025.

Reception

The series has influenced the real world in several ways. For example, ''Polo'' the novel brought the sport to a wider audience and attendance at matches increased. Horses feature to a greater or lesser extent in the majority of the series, most notably in '' Riders,

, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, Mount!'' and '' Jump!;'' this association has been linked with other novels that focus on desire, including '' The Nonesuch'' and '' Regency Buck''. Cooper's recent works, including ''Jump!'' received a variety of responses from critics, with Olivia Laing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' praising "her near-magical ability to conjure up a world and populate it with people for whom you feel a deep affection". Since the 2010s the series has been criticised for dated and problematic portrayals of race, homosexuality, gender roles and sexual consent. Her works have been described as "untouched by the #MeToo movement". In 2023 former British prime minister Rishi Sunak revealed that some of his favourite books were part of the series.

Notes

References

Romance novel series Novel series Novels by Jilly Cooper {{Authority control