The World Is Full of Married Men

• Allegedly, he likes listening to the music of Michael Bublé, watching Emily in Paris – and reading the novels of Jilly Cooper.
• Cooper is a stalwart of the British literary scene, awarded an OBE in 2004 and a CBE in 2018 for services to literature.
• In later books in the so-called “Rutshire Chronicles”, such as Rivals (1988) and Polo (1991), he becomes Tory minister for sport.

What is a bonkbuster?

• Feel at last bonkbuster is on the road.
• Publisher [… enquires] about progress of blockbuster.
• Bonkbusters are characterised by melodrama and spectacle – in other words, they are completely, unashamedly, unabashedly bonkers.
• The bonkbusters are no different, with their focus on wealth and power – and of course sex.

Sex, relationships and goldfish

• There are key differences in attitude between the two forms – including the way they approach sex.
• Sex can be euphoric and multi-orgasmic – this is certainly the case in what is arguably the most infamous bonkbuster sex scene, the goldfish scene from Conran’s Lace.
• This exemplifies another typical bonkbuster theme: bad relationships.
• Read more:
  A whole new set of horny lords and ladies: how Bridgerton brought romance book serialisation to television

Orgasms and class

• However, it is arguably in their depictions of sex and relationships – particularly their championing of female orgasms – that the most compelling case for reading them as feminist texts can be made.
• Bonkbusters – especially Jilly Cooper’s books – are often associated with the English upper classes.
• Cooper’s aristocratic characters attend parties in (often quite tumbledown) stately homes, or socialise at polo matches.
• What all bonkbusters endorse is aspiration – to be richer, to be famous, to have better sex (or more sex), or to gain a husband.

Where has the bonkbuster gone?

• The 21st century saw the bonkbuster disappear somewhat from view – or, at least, from its wholesale domination of bestseller lists.
• The slew of copycats died down and other forms of women’s fiction, such as chick-lit, arose in its wake.
• However, this is not to say the bonkbuster has gone away.