Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Jilly Cooper, December 14, 1999
This book is excellent! I'm a horse lover and first found Jilly Cooper's "Riders" on a trip to the UK. Since then I've tried to read everything she's written, and I'm seldom disappointed. I know very little about the world of classical music but it didn't matter -- her books are so character-driven that it's them you get wrapped up in, not so much the subject matter. This book gave us a "fix" of our favorite characters from past books, but introduced new characters just as interesting and complex. Other characters on the periphery of previous books (like Flora from "The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous" and Marcus from "Riders") become main characters here, and you have the pleasure of seeing them grow up. You don't need to be a horse fan to love all Jilly's books!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I love you normally Jilly but...., December 18, 2000
Oh Jilly - I just love most of your books - but the last three in the series you have done on Campbell-Black and co I just haven't enjoyed as much. This is the fifth book in the series which started with Rivals. As usual Cooper focuses on a single theme and a big crowning event - in this case orchestras and a big competition which Rupert Campbell-Black's son, Marcus is competing in. Against him is the heroine of this novel - Abigail Rosen also known as Appassionata.Perhaps it is just me, but I don't much like Rannaldini. He appeared in the Cooper's last book - The Man Who Made Husband's Jealous - he is the bad-guy of the piece, but I find him horrible. Normally with Cooper the bad guys and the good guys are fairly ambiguous - you can certainly like most of the bad-guys but Rannaldini is just evil on two legs. I hope I'm not spoiling anyone's fun by telling you all that Ranaldini finally gets killed off in the next book - Score! - but in the meantime I feel like he lurks with a bit too much sinister pleasure through these pages. Unfortunately Cooper has got me hooked on the series, so every time one of her books comes out it is a must read for me. The first three novels in this series (Riders, Rivals and Polo) were simply bliss - and I loved her earlier books (Harriet, Imogen &c.) If you haven't read Cooper before then you should read her earlier books. If you have read them - well you will probably want to find out what happens next - and the book isn't bad - its just not as good as her past efforts.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, excellent, excellent, excellent cooper, May 22, 2000
By A Customer
I'm a long, long, long time fan of jilly cooper (from her first romance novels of emily, harriet, imogen, bella, lisa and co), and have read all the previous marathon novels (riders, rivals, polo, etc). This book was ticking off one line after another, and I often imagined the shocked faces of the English audience as they read some of her imageries of English pretensioin. I know Cooper has tried with Riders and Rivals to reach the American audience but for some reason she did not catch on. That is because she does not have the dripping sap of the American romance audience, and much too talented and intelligent to grab the Daniel Steele audiences that dominates the American romance industry. Perhaps there is too much romping sex to represent real life, but certainly the American romance genre has such a pretension of virtue in an ill disguised soft porn that one can turn bolemic from throwing up with each turn of the page. I'd say her writing is a nice blend of the pop novels and literary novels like Jane Austen, George Eliott, etc. Keen on human behavior but fast paced and sharp. Great plot. Also, Cooper actually made me appreciate classical music, leaving as romantic and passionate image of classic music as I have for rock music.
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