Alice Glover as Lorna Hamilton Joel Fry as Charlie Mancini Riders and the Rutshire Chronicles However, Cooper's best-known works are her long novels. The first of these was Riders (1985), an international bestseller, and the first volume of Rutshire Chronicles. The first version of Riders was written by 1970, but shortly after Cooper had finished it, she took it with her into the West End of London and left the manuscript on a bus. The London Evening Standard put out an appeal, but it was never found. She was, she says, "devastated", and it took her more than a decade to start it again. Riders and the following books are characterised by intricate plots, featuring multiple story lines and a large number of characters. (To help the reader keep track, each book begins with a list and brief description of the characters.) Although the books do not always follow each other sequentially – Rivals and Polo chronologically overlap, for example – they are linked by recurring characters (chiefly Rupert Campbell-Black, Roberto Rannaldini, and their families) and later books make reference to events of previous books. The stories heavily feature sexual infidelity and general betrayal, melodramatic misunderstandings and emotions, money worries and domestic upheavals. Each book of the Rutshire Chronicles is set in a glamorous and wealthy milieu, such as show jumping or classical music. These aspects are contrasted with details of the characters' domestic lives, which are often far from glamorous. Pandora Her novel Pandora is not one of the Rutshire Chronicles, but does feature a few characters from the series, and is very similar in style and content. Wicked! follows the same approach, including characters from previous novels and introducing new characters who are relatives, friends or rivals of existing characters. It is set in the fictional county of Larkshire, which borders her other fictional county, Rutshire. Jump! Her novel Jump! was released in 2010. It features characters from the Rutshire Chronicles in the world of National Hunt steeplechase racing, and tells the transformation of a mutilated horse (Mrs Wilkinson) into a successful racehorse. After publication, it was revealed that Cooper had named a goat in the book (Chisolm) in order to hit back at the critic Anne Chisholm. Children's books Cooper also wrote a series of children's books featuring the heroine Little Mabel. Personal life In 1961, she married Leo Cooper, a publisher of military history books. The