BFL10 - Is It Too Early For Champagne? Remembering Jilly Cooper

Join us for a joyous celebration of the life and work of the much-loved author and journalist Dame Jilly Cooper, whose many novels have brought joy to millions. Author Daisy Buchanan,  Rivals actress Victoria Smurfit, and Kat Brown, journalist and author and founder of the Jilly Cooper fan club, lead fangirl tributes to the jolly super creator of some of our favourite bonkbusters!

Dame Jilly Cooper began her career as a cub reporter on a local paper in Brentford, covering everything from fetes to football. Her breakthrough came in 1969 when the Sunday Times colour supplement published a humorous piece about being a hopelessly undomesticated young wiFe.  The success of that article let to a column in the Sunday Times Newspaper which she wrote for over 13 years. She wrote her first novel How To Stay Married in 1969 and over the following decades went on to write romantic novels, children’s books and non-fiction. She is best known for her Rutshire Chronicles – including Riders, Rivals and Polo. Rivals is now a successful TV series.

Daisy Buchanan is the author of READ YOURSELF HAPPY: How a book habit can make you feel better. Her fifth novel ALL GROWN UP, a contemporary coming retelling of Little Women will be out this Summer. Daisy is the host of the chart topping You're Booked podcast, where she interviews iconic authors about their reading habits.

Victoria Smurfit is an Irish actress whose roles include playing Maud O’Hara opposite Aiden Turner in the smash-hit TV series Rivals. 

Kat Brown is founder of the Jilly Cooper fan club, and is part of Rivals: The Official podcast.  Her books include Not a Bloody Trend: Understanding ADHD as an Adult, and No One Talks About This Stuff: 22 Stories of Almost Parenthood (dedicated to Jilly Cooper).