Jilly Cooper, who was best known as the queen of "Bonkbuster" novels from Rivals to Jump, sadly passed away on 5 October aged 88. However, long before she became a thriving and successful author, she struggled with a flailing career that saw her sacked from 22 jobs before she discovered her passion for writing short stories. Speaking to BBC Essex back in 2010 on her illustrious career, Jilly admitted that it wasn't always smooth sailing and best-selling novels. "I got sacked from 22 jobs, that's encouraging, isn't it?" the author jeered, much to the radio host's bewilderment.
"I was a terrible typist. I was always fired by Wednesday because I didn't get my essays in until Tuesday evening. Awful, the humiliation," she recalled. "I was told I used to laugh in meetings, and I was a switchboard wrecker, I was hopeless. Suddenly I started to write short stories and people bought them, it was heaven." Jilly also reminisced about her first foray into writing, saying: "I wrote a play when I was 14 and sent it to Woman's Own. They were sweet, they wrote back and said they'd all read it in the office, and they loved it, but they actually didn't publish plays."
The interviewer then asked Jilly about life before writing best-sellers was the norm. "Before you were famous, before you were accepted, was it difficult to get into in the first place?" he asked. "I was very lucky that I married a publisher, which was an intelligent thing to do," the author replied. Later in the interview, when asked about her success, she said: "There must be an obsession with people seeing their names in print. When I help Jump! in my arms it was like a baby really."
Jilly's early career
After struggling to break into the British national press, Jilly began her career as a junior reporter for The Middlesex Independent. But her first true big break came at a dinner party in 1968, when she met Sunday Times Magazine editor Godfrey Smith. He invited her to write about the difficulties of being a young working wife, which became a hugely popular column about marriage, sex, and housework. In 1982 she moved her column to The Mail on Sunday, where she wrote a bi-monthly column until 1987.
It wasn't until 1985 that Jilly published her breakthrough novel Riders, which was then followed by Rivals in 1988. Through the 1980s, she firmly established herself as the undisputed queen of the "bonkbuster" genre with her Rutshire Chronicles series.
© GettyJilly's sad passing
Dame Jilly Cooper died unexpectedly on Sunday morning after a fall. Her two children, Felix and Emily, said in their statement that their mother's accident and passing had come as a "complete shock". They confirmed the news in a statement that read: "Mum was the shining light in all of our lives. Her love for all of her family and friends knew no bounds. Her unexpected death has come as a complete shock. We are so proud of everything she achieved in her life and can't begin to imagine life without her infectious smile and laughter all around us."
