Rivals

This week has flown by in a blur of still having the same cold (or maybe it's a new one) and work being full on. I am very much in need of a holiday, and happily one is not far away. Meanwhile the clocks going back - always my favourite day of the year, it's the one where the day actually feels long enough for a change and I don't feel like I'm running to stand still.

I've celabrated this by making a batch of quince jelly, this years mincemeat, and mixing up a bottle of mixed spice - all things that make me happy. I've also watched the last episode of Jilly Cooper's Rivals. It's almost a decade since I last tried reading a Cooper - I hated Jump and couldn;t actually finish it. In the interveneing years I even got rid of my once beloved copy of Riders, I can't imagine I could stomach that now either. But I've loved watching Rivals, it's fabulous television. 

In my late teens/early adult days Cooper was a guilty pleasure who I genuinley beleaved captured something vital about the late 70s and 1980s. She was also the sort of writer that an earnest young woman felt the need to defend herself for reading back in the day. I think if I re read those books now I'd still think they reflected something of the time they were written, but probably not things I want to remember. 

The genius of the tv series has been to present itself as a period drama, capture the brash optomism and glamour of the era for the well to do, and absolutly ignore all the hardship of the time - because these books were always about escapism. The casting has also been genius, Alex Hassel as Rupert Campbell-Black absolutly has the neccesary charisma for the role and is much more convincing than previous actors who have attempted the role, but there are so many brilliant turns in this, especially from the women.

Which is another thing this adaptation gets right, the female characters here might not get the lines, they don't in the books either, but whilst the men get to chew scenery with gusto, those women are bringing the depth to the story (in amongst all the bonking). The attention to detail is also phenomanal, along with all the small jokes and references - right up to the cliffhangers it ends with - please let there be another series.

I couldn't honestly recommend reading Jilly Cooper now, but absolutly watch this to get the sense of what made her books beloved in the first place.