Jump! cover

Published: 2010

#9 in the series

Jump!

Etta Bancroft – sweet, kind, still beautiful – adores racing and harbours a crush on one of its stars, the handsome high-handed owner-trainer Rupert Campbell-Black.

When her bullying husband dies, Etta’s selfish, ambitious children drag her from her lovely Dorset house to live in a hideous modern bungalow in the Cotswold village of Willowwood.

Etta’s life is transformed when she finds a horribly mutilated filly wandering in the woods. She names her Mrs Wilkinson and nurses her back to health. The filly charms everyone in the village, and when tests reveal her to be a spectacularly well-bred racehorse a village syndicate is formed to put the filly into training.

Captivating vast crowds as she progresses from point-to-point to major races, she brings fame and fortune to the syndicate, until, at last, she is entered in the greatest jump race of them all. Can Mrs Wilkinson win the Grand National? And can Etta gain her heart’s desire?

Listen to an audio extract read by Samantha Bond

Read an extract from the book

Sit back and enjoy the ride as the queen of the bonkbuster, Jilly Cooper, delivers another fabulously entertaining saga

Good Housekeeping

Jump! is the perfect read for chilly autumn nights. Hugely entertaining, touching and funny, yet again Cooper has a winner

Daily Express

Cooper is a major genius... the narrative zips along, pierced with her characteristically brilliant ear for dialogue and empathy for human relationships of all kinds

Sara Lawrence, The Daily Mail

Unrivalled joy

Tatler

Near-magical ability to conjure up a world and populate it with people for whom you feel a deep affection

Observer

A classic romp through the world of horse racing. Guilty pleasures rarely come as delicious as this

Elle

Jilly has given more pleasure to more girls and women than anyone else alive today...Cooper's familiar warmth and irrepressible humour

The Lady

A magnificent portrayal of how a beautiful young girl might become the first woman ever to win the Grand National

The Spectator

Classic Cooper: either the perfect beach read or else something to curl up on the sofa with to keep out the encroaching autumn chill

Sunday Express

She is sharp, funny and touching – and knows how to work a winning formula

Times Literary Supplement

Just the thing for a wet winter weekend

Independent

To read one of Cooper’s books is to escape into an alternative universe in which all is right with the world

Guardian

Jilly’s descriptions of the glorious Cotswold countryside are some of the most lyrical ever written and her comedies of manners rival Nancy Mitford, if not Jane Austen

Femail, The Daily Mail

Warmed by the tender characterisation that has made Jilly Cooper a national treasure

Country Life

A rollicking fantasy

Horse & Hound

I loved it!

Baroness Boycott

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FAN FEEDBACK

Loved Jump! It has taken me 3 months to read simply because I wanted to stretch my reading time to as long as possible, because I didn’t want to finish reading the book!

Linda T.

Loved Etta from page one, and loved Valent too. Haven’t wanted two people to get together so much since Rupert and Taggie.

Jill B.

I loved every minute of this! I was devastated when I thought Mrs Wilkinson had died, but as usual you pulled it and back and tears of joy not sadness came at the end. Love you Jilly!

Jo E.

She made me laugh and cry and have a great time reading and re-reading Jump! in less than two weeks!

Pien P.

It was a great book. I really enjoyed it. The characters, the setting, the tension, the drama, the laughs, the “mood.” I’ve enjoyed all your books in the Rutshire Chronicles, and have re-read each one many times.

Herman P.

I have just finished Jump! and totally loved it! The story was great, the characters amusing (and annoying), plus the lovely animals. Thank you for giving me another wonderful read.

Megan D.

I would like to offer my congratulations for yet another outstanding book that had me reading for almost 24 hours non-stop, often arriving at work with tired red eyes from reading into the early hours!

Amy R.

Have just finished your wonderful new book in record time! Absolutely fantastic as ever!

Christine E-A.

I was absolutely captivated by the story with its twists and turns. It really was a page turner, and I did not want to finish it. The ending was marvellous.

Iona C-H.

Jilly never disappoints her fans and this was no exception.

Kate H.