Between the Sheets by Jilly Cooper

A well written series of essays by the much loved journalist and author looking at life from varying angles and ages a vintage Ms Cooper at her best humour.
It follows her life as a wife ,mother and journalist through the main part and it lets the reader reflect how different the decades have been. It will make you smile if not laugh out loud. If you’re familiar with Jilly Cooper from a few decades ago it is worth the read for sheer nostalgia and may be able to relate to them . A very enjoyable read. 4.5/5

I love Jilly Cooper - her Rutshire Chronicles were pretty much my constant companions throughout my teens and twenties - and was so pleased to be granted access to read this collection of her journalism. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

The book features a selection of Cooper's journalism covering the period she wrote columns for The Times (roughly from the end of the 1960s to the early 1980s). As expected from Cooper, it features meditations on sex - the raunchy nature of her fiction books is well-known - but also mid-life, family, pets, domesticity, relationships and plenty more. It is also packed with humour - there's lots of self-deprecation, witty turns of phrase, puns and plenty of Cooper's ability to see the ridiculous in situations.

Given my rather *vintage* status as a Jilly Cooper reader, I was slightly disappointed to learn that there is no new material in the book - I hadn't previously read a lot of Cooper's journalism but some of the pieces were definitely familiar to me. This would be great though for those who haven't encountered the stories of Cooper's private life told in lively and hilarious detail before.

I did vaguely wonder whether the pieces would appear dated, but I'd say they still felt relevant and modern. There were plenty of bits that felt relatable, especially around the topics of middle age and family given that this is where I am currently! Obviously, Cooper's view of scrimping and saving might be different to mine given that her and her husband seem to have some choice London addresses, but I appreciate the sentiment. I also liked her thoughts on female friendship and her candid approach to telling her stories, disasters and all. I loved the fact that she was far from being a domestic goddess, as that is my lot also!

It is a very funny book, although it must be noted that Cooper's selection here deliberately swerves some of the sadder issues from her life that her fans will know about. This makes it a lovely introduction to jolly Jilly, but not the whole story of course. Still, it is a fun and extremely cheery jaunt through life as a young (later middle-aged) wife. I'm not sure if the pieces are arranged chronologically - I'd assumed so but it would have been useful to know when they were first published.

Alongside the book, I also listened to the audiobook read by Pandora Sykes - I'd whole-heartedly recommend this option as the anecdotes spring off the page and Jilly Cooper's wit and humour comes alive.

Overall, I'd say this is an engaging and funny introduction to Cooper's journalism of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. It won't tell the whole story of an autobiography, but it will make you laugh and think and empathise. It's 100% recycled material for us oldies (well, except a new foreword), but 100% entertaining.

A fun set of essays. Often not how most of us would see things nowadays but it was interesting to get a view of the values of the past and see how much things have changed (or sometimes not!), and Cooper’s voice is always warm and entertaining.

I enjoyed this book. Whilst it wasn’t a novel as such, it was snippets of her life which was fun to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for a review. I will leave this review on Amazon too.

My first Jilly Cooper book and I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Written as a series of snippets rather than a novel it is frank and funny just like I have seen her in interviews on TV.

An interesting read, I don’t think I’ve read one of her books fully. But this was great to see an insight into her life.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

I have always enjoyed Jilly Coopers unique writing style, so I was extremely excited to start this book.
The characters in this book are fun and realistic, with traits that really give them a more 'human' feel.
The entire storyline flowed perfectly and kept me engrossed right to the very end. The writing style is exactly what I have come to expect of Jilly's books, and it certainly pulled me in to this marvellous story.

This was a light hearted, fun, truly enjoyable read that I read within a day as I just couldn't put it down.

This book isn't actually a novel like previous Jilly Cooper books but more like snippets from her past. It is mainly a collection of her Sunday Times newspaper columns.
It is a fun and Frank read from that period and an insight to the authors life then.

Personally I cannot decide whether I enjoyed this book or not. I found it difficult to read more than a few pages at a time but I cannot leave a book unfinished and I’m glad I finished this

A really lovely insight into Jilly, her family, and mad pets over the years.
Some really funny laugh out loud moments which you would expect from Jilly. I've read most of her books (mainly her bonkbusters) and enjoyed them all as well as this one. It was an open and honest account of her life over the decades.
It was easy going and I could pick it up and not try to remember what had happened when I last put it down. .
It had some really warm moments but and a lot I could relate to.
A really enjoyable fun book.
Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book. xx

Fun, Fiesty And Nostalgic...
A fun and feisty gathering of observations from newspaper columns penned by the author. Great fun, nostalgic and bursting with Jilly Coopers’ trademark wit and wisdom. A light hearted, entertaining and enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed this read. It was fun, frank and real. I felt she didn’t hold back and gave us, the readers and general public an honest account of what it was like to walk in her shoes, lead her life and exist in the public eye. She came across as very likeable, as someone who would be very good company at a dinner party. It was well written and well edited. It never lagged and I didn’t find myself even once skimming or checking how much more there was left to read. I’d highly recommend it as a fun, light read, not too taxing yet enjoyable.

Have read Jilly Cooper books for years now and they are always so much fun!! Really enjoyed this and recognised some of the writing as Jilly has used similar lines in her fabulous books. Great fun read. Thank you for making me smile and laugh. Thanks for letting me review this book.

I Received An eBook Version Of This From @netgalley In Exchange For An Honest Review.

I Thoroughly Enjoyed This Book As It Isn’t A Story, But Rather Snippets From Her Past! I Am Old Enough To Know Who Jilly Cooper Is, But Young Enough Not To Have Read Her Columns!

It Was Really Quick To Read And Her Wit Is Hilarious. I Kept Giggling Away To Myself (Which Is Not Easy When You Have Stitches Following Surgery!!)

My Favourite Extracts Are The Following ~

🔸 The reasons for my predicament are threefold. First, I adore food; second, I am devoid of self-control; and third, the moment I feel bored, unhappy or frustrated, I start eating.

🔸 We always have at least six unidentifiable cards from people called John. (Made Me Think Of Gavin & Stacey, Step Brother John!)

🔸 When I go into other people’s houses the first thing I look at is their books. If they haven’t got any, I immediately want to go home again.

🔸 We’ve always had a better eye for a bar than a bargain.

🔸 There was no more rolling up at 10:30, like we used to at the Playgroup, when I had a hangover and overslept.

A Brilliant Light Read, That I Highly Recommend - With A Gin & Tonic!

A selection of Jilly's newspaper columns from the 60s and 70s. I am as shocked as Jilly was to believe that they were written 50 years ago. Still fun to read about the chaos of her life as a new wife and mother. A couple of hours reading that is easy to pick up and put down during a cuppa.

“I think what I like best about books is that they are all things to all moods. You can read poetry when you’re in love, Anthony Powell when you want to meet a few amusing people, Nancy Mitford when you need a good giggle. Montaigne when you want your sanity restored.”
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The indomitable Jilly Cooper
This collection of her Sunday Times columns, the first of which appeared in the paper in 1969, made me laugh out loud which was tricky when trapped reading in the dark between a cat and a husband who opened a bleary eye at me for making the bed shake. Not an earthquake, simply the joy of Jilly. She always reminds me a little of the Wife of Bath, slightly lascivious and full of life. I now have visions of Wordsworth charging around his Lakeland cottage shouting “What the bloody hell rhymes with daffodils? Fetch me the rhyming dictionary Dorothy.” A story of bird-watchers on Safari had me in fits as they all charged out the French doors with bulging cheeks full of All-Bran at every strangled squawk

A much needed tonic after some recent heavy reads, but in true Jilly style she’d like a great big splash of gin in hers. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for this ARC

Chatty and full of fun, how lovely to spend time with Jilly and see a snapshot of her family life and the columns that started her writing career.

I like Jilly Cooper so was really excited to read this book. I loved getting a greater insight on her life. Would have liked it to be more of her life overall though.

I spent a good part of my early teens reading anything written by Jilly Cooper so was interested to hear some autobiographical words of wisdom from her.

I chuckled over long forgotten descriptions of Vim and Gumption, Britain entering the common market, Access cards, considering buying a deep freeze and colour TV.

Overall the recollections seemed a little old fashioned and I would have liked later years to also be included. I'm sure some feminists would be appalled at some of the descriptions of married life but these were very different times to how we live now. Ultimately we are left in the safe knowledge that Jilly and her husband, Leo, had a happy and loving marriage.

This is a book of newspaper snippets that are a delight to read. Laugh out loud and so much fun! I love Jilly Cooper and loved this.
I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley in return for my honest opinion.