Sue Leonard: Jilly Cooper charted the excesses of Thatcher's 1980s

Although the author's 'bonkbusters' were sneered at by critics, her fun and empathy opened up conversations around sex and influenced a generation, writes Sue Leonard

Jilly Cooper was ahead of her time in her witty weekly columns. File picture: Billy Higgins

News of writer Jilly Cooper’s sudden death after a fall earlier this week came as a terrible shock. At 88, still effervescent, she’d had a pretty good year. 

2024 saw her made a Dame of the British Empire, as well as the release of the hugely successful adaptation of her second bonkbuster, Rivals, on Disney Plus. And it was only a year before that – in November 2023 — that her 11th and final bonkbuster, Tackle, was released. Her work ethic remained astonishing.