Mount!: The fast-paced, riotous new adventure from the Sunday Times bestselling author Jilly Cooper

Product Information

In Cooper’s latest blockbuster—again set in the horse-racing world—it’s certainly not difficult to tell what she thinks of any of the characters. If you've read other books in the "Rutminster" series, you'll immediately recognize all the old favourite characters. Jilly is about bringing joy into your life: daft, silly, boozy joy, and if you like joy, you’ll like this. I often find lengthy books overfacing but not Jilly's, I could have gone on reading, except of course I wanted to know the outcome! Rupert cheating was horrible, I was waiting for him to have a last minute realisation and stop himself.

As a girl growing up in rural Scotland, I adored and worshipped Jilly Cooper, and genuinely believed her to be a trusty, realistic guide to adult life. For those of us who have followed the follies and successes of Rupert Campbell-Black and his wife Taggie, it is a lovely reunion.Frankly this would have worked fine if it wasn’t for the rushed in ending which ended up being beyond ridiculous. Absolutely everybody read Jilly – not just the world-conquering Riders, but all the way back to the Emilys and Olivias in their dainty 70s nighties. Have read a few interviews with her recently - the Camilla Long one in the times was particularly interesting. It also implied her marriage wasn't that brilliant and I wonder if she therefore just couldn't let Rupert and Taggie live happily ever after - or without him shagging the vile Gala.

There's a scene which doesn't happen which I was surprised at (a particular race) but the book was so long by this point that I can see why Cooper chose another denouement. I know Jilly's getting older but someone should have pointed things out to her so she could have corrected it. I also agree her nature writing is lovely and her older characters used to be flawed but they generally redeemed themselves in some way. Giving her cancer meant she didn't have to actually do anything - she never did learn to assert herself. He is now obsessed with having his favourite horse being titled 'Leading Sire' which for those of us not in horse world means having the most successful descendants.You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Our lead character Rupert is coming up to the age of 60, but every woman with a heartbeat still wants to have sex with him as per the earlier books when he was younger. And as increasingly sinister acts of sabotage strike at Penscombe, the game of musical loose boxes gathers apace . Back to Mount - I got confused over the sheer amount of stable hands and couldn't work who was who and who they worked for.

The human characters are very realistic with all their flaws and strengths, and the animals in the story are almost human in their personalities. Whilst I cannot deny enjoying the fuck out of this book, in all it's almost pastiche levels of Cooper glory, there are aspects I found…problematic. Using this book as a guide to British humour would leave one with the impression that a good joke is something crude mixed with something racist, barely advanced from Fawlty Towers. Etta and Valent drink 2 bottles of champagne and a bottle of red while having geriatric sex - all I can say is that I would have been fast asleep as soon as I lay down after 1 bottle!In the Camilla Long interview there was quite a bit about how she'd had to support her family pretty much always - well Leo I mean. What I do have a problem with is that we are supposed to consider this a happy ending, with a literal tribute to Rupert at the end. It is a big book, starting with 16 pages of cast of characters/animals which really is overwhelming to begin with but quite helpful.