Jilly Cooper, British queen of the bonkbuster and national treasure is back with her latest novel Mount!, which sees the highly anticipated return of her most popular character, the horsey heartbreaker Rupert Campbell-Black.
And while Rupert is once again setting hearts aflutter across the country, it’s the horses that are getting most of the action, as Mount! is set in the world of horse breeding and flat racing.
The story follows Rupert, pitted against old enemies Isa Lovell and Cosmo Rannaldini in a race to win leading sire – with Rupert determined that his prize stallion Love Rat will be crowned.
Left at home juggling the family while Rupert’s off chasing winners around the world, his darling wife Taggie falls into the arms of Jan, the exceptionally handsome and utterly charming carer of Rupert’s wayward geriatric father Old Eddie, while setback after setback on the racing track make Rupert’s dream seem ever more impossible.
Cooper writes characters that you can really root for, despite the fact that she never disguises their faults, from Rupert’s infidelity and impetuousness to Taggie’s doormat saintliness, Cooper’s message is clear: we’re all worthy of love and it will come to us in the end.
Mount! is quintessential Cooper, with horses and dogs having as big a role in the action as the people. Fans will be thrilled with the return of many of Cooper’s best-loved characters, culminating in a huge party which reads like a who’s who of her best novels.
Cooper’s writing is so ineffably joyful and uplifting, one hopes that, given her huge readership, Mount! will jolly well cheer the nation up.
Published by Bantam Press
