Dame Jilly Cooper has died aged 88 after a fall on Sunday (October 5), her agent has said.
Agent Felicity Blunt said of the best-selling author: "The privilege of my career has been working with a woman who has defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over fifty years ago."
She noted that Jilly would be best remembered for her chart-topping series, The Rutshire Chronicles, which has since been turned into a Disney+ hit TV show.
Jilly was said to have mined her own life for inspiration, and through all her success, her agent added: "If you tried to pay her this compliment, or any compliment, she would brush it aside.
"She wrote, she said, simply ‘to add to the sum of human happiness’. In this regard as a writer she was and remains unbeatable."
The author became an executive producer on the adaptation of Rivals for Disney+, with Felicity praising her suggestions for story and dialogue and stated her presence on set was a "joy for cast and crew alike".
Her agent described her as "emotionally intelligent, fantastically generous, sharply observant and utter fun," adding that she will be missed by all.
Jilly's enthusiasm and humour was also praised as her publisher Bill Scott-Kerr paid tribute to the author, he said: "Working with Jilly Cooper over the past thirty years has been one of the great privileges and joys of my publishing life. Beyond her genius as a novelist, she was always a personal heroine of mine for so many other reasons.
"For her kindness and friendship, for her humour and irrepressible enthusiasm, for her curiosity, for her courage, and for her profound love of animals."
Jilly began her career as a journalist before moving onto multiple romance novels, the first appearing in 1975.
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