Riders

When receiving this book it comes off as intimidating being over 800 pages and a listing of characters in the very beginning. Once I got over the size of the novel, I jumped into the book and could not put it down. Although I typically am not a fan of British writing or books with independent plots in a novel, this book was amazing. The individual character development and details that Jilly Cooper puts in the book make it for a fast paced read and easy to follow.Being an equestrian who has participated in shows, it was great to see the accuracy of equine details when describing the show world as well as the individual horses. The fictitious plot actually highlights the side of show jumping that many riders know, but don't really discuss that still occur regularly. Any reader that has ridden and competed will be able to relate to the horse aspect of the book.I particularly enjoyed reading the wild adventures of Rupert-Campbell Black. He's the type of character you will love to hate but will be too enticed to care that his actions are reprehensible. Sine he appears in several of Jilly Cooper's other novels, Rider's sets the stage for Rupert's character. Rupert's best friend Billy also is a main character that has much character develop in this book. The dynamic duo take the reader through high's and lows in show jumping as well as personal conflicts once Jack Lowell comes on the scene.I ended up reading this book in a week, it was amazing and easy to enjoy. There are some detailed sex scenes that apparent through the novel, so providing that isn't an issue then definitely take a moment to read this book.

One of my all time favs. Read this every couple of years and it never gets old. Loads of fun; you don’t need to be horsey to enjoy this epic.

I previously read Polo and The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous so had an idea that I would be seeing Rupert Campbell Black as a single man when his selfishness did not have very real consequences for other people. The characters were well developed. I'm not a horsey person myself but I remember going along to gymkahanas with my cousin in Kent 30 odd years ago and the early chapters where Jake had the unenviable task of chaperoning brats - sorry, lovely children - to one such event brought back some memories. Some people will probably think of Tory as being a fool for putting up with Jake although I thought he was sincere. There was nothing sweet about Rupert - imagine JR Ewing in jodhpurs and you have an idea of what he is like (a good looking jerk). I sort of liked Helen at first but she became so annoying as time went on, I felt really sorry for her and Rupert's two children, having them for their parents. Billy got on my nerves as well, putting up with his toe rag wife but there's no accounting for taste. In all I found it to be a good book and hated having to halt reading it on my journeys to work - resuming the next page became a pleasure.

This book is much better than Cooper's "Players," mostly because it has a plot and some hysterical scenes (designed to appeal to the reader's inner seventh grader). But it's basically every young adult horse book I've read, only with a terrifically horny English cast and an author who's allowed to use bad words and bad metaphors when it comes to writing sex scenes.Here are some very familiar characters to anyone who's ever read horse lit.Rich snobs who are outrageously nasty and get their come uppance - Check.Spunky, sassy young horse mad girls - who are basically National Velvet with a sex drive to rival certain species of rodent. - Check.Poor but gifted young trainer with a long festering grudge - Check.Throw in vapid assorted other characters, and you've got a book!Also, why does this author have such an obsession about making sure we know a character is overweight - to the point of using "fat" and its synonyms for pages on end? Just asking.

I'm an American and this was my first Jilly Cooper novel. I'm not a big reader, but I am a horse person and now hooked on her books! Her details about the horses seemed so vivid and accurate, I would have guessed that she must be a horse person too. It was fun interrupting the British "slang". It took me a while, but I now know what a loo is! Some parts were a bit too steamy to recommend to a teen or my Mother for that matter! I think I blushed a couple of times while reading it, but that made it even more interesting! I thought it was much better than reading about a girl falling in love with a Vampire (really?). I would love to see Riders as a mini-series on the ole telly!

All are included in the story of Rupert and Billy, two of the best show jumpers in England. Their friendship endures even though their personalities are pretty much at opposite ends.I recommend Jilly Cooper, who has just become my new favorite author. Am on to her next book!

I first read this book 30 odd years ago, I loved it then and I love it now! What a world Jilly Cooper weaves, you want to move in! The best kind of fiction, can't wait to read it each day, stay up too late reading it and sad when it ends! She captures a moment in time with humor and feeling and insight. If you lived in England during the 70's, you know what I mean. Just love this story. Always have, always will! Thank you Jilly for the laugh out loud moments, the tears and the horses. Brilliant.

This is a weird book to review as I hated so much of it and yet was still compelled to read to the end. So it must have done something for me but I can't see what.I hated all of the characters. Every now and then a new character would crop up and I'd feel hopeful that I would like them but then they'd do something awful or start acting out of their initial character.Everyone cheats. Everyone. Nobody seems able to keep it in their pants even if you can't see why character A would suddenly want to bang character D.The sex is very unsatisfying and perfunctory. There is alot of wiping of sexual effluents off oneself, onto hankies, dockleaves, handfuls of grass. It's less sexy and just plain grim.I found I was more invested in the horses as characters and willing them to make it through the story safely. They were pretty much the only ones who didn't cheat or crap all over each other!Glad I can cross Riders off my must read bucket list. It was an experience but not one I'd care to repeat with any more of her books.

Of course I had heard of Jilly Cooper and ‘Riders’ specifically but I had never read any Jilly Cooper books or ever really been interested in reading them. Recently I saw a list of the ‘top 100 books to read before you die’ and as I skim read, I was surprised to see ‘Riders’ on the list. Once I saw that the Kindle version was currently only 99p, I thought I’d give it a go and I was pleasantly surprised.The book follows the interconnected lives of several competitive horse show jumpers. Rupert Campbell-Black is a dark and arrogant hunk who rides both his horses and his women hard. Billy Lloyd-Foxe is Rupert's best friend and partner in crime, a simple man of simple pleasures and he tries to keep Rupert in line. Then Jake Lovell, the gypsie boy who comes from nothing but has a gift for horse handling and is keen to make a name for himself in the show jumping world.Interspersed with the men are a few women. Rupert’s long suffering and feeble wife, Helen and the amazing up-coming young show jumping queen, Fen. We follow the group over a few years and see Rupert and Jake’s fierce rivalry that stretches beyond the bounds of their sport and into their personal lives and all the relationships that bloom and die in between.Firstly, this is really easy to read. Although it’s a big book, there are no wasted words and there was never a point where it dragged for me. As soon as I started the book, I was instantly hooked and transported in the world for show jumping, something which I knew nothing about before. The characters are great, they are all individual and just when you think you know them, they do something totally unpredictable. There is a lot of scandal in the book but the sex scenes are quite tame in today’s Fifty Shades of Grey’ world. I found myself caring about some characters, getting annoyed by others, frustrated by others, angry at times and also found myself cheering on the UK team in the Olympics.I was surprised how I was so swept up in the story, there are a lot of laughs, funny one-liners, amusing situations and also some shocking encounters. This book is best enjoyed if you go with the flow and let it take you along the journey. I will probably read the sequel ‘Rivals’ at some point, next time I need a fun and easy read.

Jilly Cooper is one of those writers l was taught to despise in my youth but have come to respect over the years. Agatha Christie and Georgette Heyer are two others. They are all much more intelligent than women were supposed to be in the early half of last century; each has an utterly distinctive voice, and they all worked extremely hard. And they created worlds for some of us to slip into when life gets rough. So if you like the english countryside, want a glimpse of how the white English 'other half' go on, characters behaving outrageously under Jilly's unjudgemental gaze, come on in. It's great fun. Rivals is even better.

I first read this book in 1986 and recall barely being able to put it down. Reading it again in 2022 it is clear that times have altered, and views which might have been mainstream then can cause one to wince now. Casual racism, sexism and misogyny jar and do detract somewhat from what is otherwise a great and page-turning read. But what surprised me this time round was just how well Jilly Cooper describes the English countryside; she is good with horses and dogs too. Overall highly enjoyable even with the wincing.

One of Jilly Coopers best novels! All the characters are seductive and pull you in from the first page. Rupert is scandalous and irresistible. You hate him and want him at the same time. Jake is a hero of the first order. The horses have personality and each storyline jumps from the pages (excuse the pun) dragging you so deeply into the story that on the last page you feel the desolation of the end very deeply (at least I did.) I've re-read this book about half a dozen times over the years and it never fails to get me tangled in its story. Well worth a read