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Harriet
Shy, dreamy, and incurably romantic, Harriet Poole was shattered when her brief affair with Simon Villiers, Oxford’s leading playboy undergraduate, ended abruptly, leaving her penniless, alone and pregnant. She becomes a nanny to the children of an eccentric scriptwriter and a whole host of visitors begin to arrive to disrupt her routine including of all people, Simon.
189 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 23, 2010
About the author
Jilly Cooper
96 books947 followersDame Jilly Cooper, OBE (born February 21, 1937) was an English author. She started her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several romance novels, the first of which appeared in 1975. She was most famous for writing the six blockbuster novels the Rutshire Chronicles.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
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August 9, 2011Well, I hated myself afterwards, but had a good time while I read it. So sort of like eating a Twinkie.
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February 27, 2014These books are my favourite books. They have marvellous endings and are equally good throughout all the book. I find Harriet very brave for the fact that she keeps her baby. I find Cory delightful and Noël (Cory's ex) dreadful. My favourite characters were Cory children who were hilarious. Harriet is vulnerable but very switched on. I recommend all of this series.
December 21, 2014
This was the first ever novel I read at the tender age of 10. I have a first edition and all the series still sits on my book case. It's typical Jilly Cooper. Every now and then, I re -read this series. I'm giving it 5 stars simply because it gave me my love of novels. If you want to go back to the 70's or early 80's then give it a go, it will only take you a day.
April 7, 2017
I came across my 1984 diary with a list of all the books I'd read that year. I read a lot of Jilly Cooper but all I can remember is that they were great fun and that all her dogs and cats had clever names.
February 18, 2008
My favorite Jilly Cooper. It is a delightful 70s romance with all the stereotypical elements. Fabulous!
February 24, 2016
In ‘Harriet’, shy and reserved teenager Harriet Poole falls in love with popular Simon Villiers after a chance meeting. However, she is left pregnant and heartbroken when he breaks up with her. Anyhow, she quietly decides to keep his baby despite him insisting on her having an abortion. She takes up a job as a nanny and works for scriptwriter Cory Erskine in order to financially support herself and her child.
Despite the simple storyline and its predictability, this book was an absolute delight thanks to Cooper’s breezy effortless writing style which made every chapter flow perfectly. For the most part, Harriet was a likeable lead character. Her brief relationship with Simon showed how naïve she was yet it’s hard to blame her as she was genuinely loving and sincere and tried her best to please him. More importantly, she displayed some character growth as she learned to be independent and focused on caring for (the baby) William instead of wallowing in sorrow over Simon.
The romance aspect was pretty good and well developed. The pacing was just right – there was no sudden realization experienced by Harriet and Cory regarding their feelings for each other. Instead, as the reader you just know that somewhere along the way they started to view each other differently, more than their initial clear-cut employer-nanny relationship. It was also convincing as they shared plenty of ups and downs together. Furthermore, despite getting along and having some wonderful conversations, there were times where they argued yet both of them handled the aftermath in a mature way.
Cory’s estranged wife, Noel was aptly unlikeable but she certainly had presence and further livened up the story. I liked that she actually had personality instead of merely being a stereotypical glamorous, gorgeous love rival. Besides that, Cory’s brother – Kit was funny and likeable though he was a womanizer. Although he didn’t appear much, he was memorable. Cory’s kids – Jonah and Chattie behaved the way kids should (something noteworthy since there are books in which the children behave more like adults). Chattie was especially funny. Somehow, Kit’s sense of humour must have rubbed off on her.
The pets were great additions to the story. One of the dogs, Sevenoaks was troublesome yet hilarious and adorable. The other dog, Tadpole and the cat Ambrose (as well as her kittens) were also mischievous at times. I simply can’t imagine how Harriet managed to take care of them coupled with Cory’s kids and her baby. There wasn’t much focus on the struggles and challenges she experienced in terms of her job but it was all realistic enough.
Overall, ‘Harriet’ was a light, charming book filled with plenty of sweet and hilarious moments. It definitely surpassed my expectation.
Despite the simple storyline and its predictability, this book was an absolute delight thanks to Cooper’s breezy effortless writing style which made every chapter flow perfectly. For the most part, Harriet was a likeable lead character. Her brief relationship with Simon showed how naïve she was yet it’s hard to blame her as she was genuinely loving and sincere and tried her best to please him. More importantly, she displayed some character growth as she learned to be independent and focused on caring for (the baby) William instead of wallowing in sorrow over Simon.
The romance aspect was pretty good and well developed. The pacing was just right – there was no sudden realization experienced by Harriet and Cory regarding their feelings for each other. Instead, as the reader you just know that somewhere along the way they started to view each other differently, more than their initial clear-cut employer-nanny relationship. It was also convincing as they shared plenty of ups and downs together. Furthermore, despite getting along and having some wonderful conversations, there were times where they argued yet both of them handled the aftermath in a mature way.
Cory’s estranged wife, Noel was aptly unlikeable but she certainly had presence and further livened up the story. I liked that she actually had personality instead of merely being a stereotypical glamorous, gorgeous love rival. Besides that, Cory’s brother – Kit was funny and likeable though he was a womanizer. Although he didn’t appear much, he was memorable. Cory’s kids – Jonah and Chattie behaved the way kids should (something noteworthy since there are books in which the children behave more like adults). Chattie was especially funny. Somehow, Kit’s sense of humour must have rubbed off on her.
The pets were great additions to the story. One of the dogs, Sevenoaks was troublesome yet hilarious and adorable. The other dog, Tadpole and the cat Ambrose (as well as her kittens) were also mischievous at times. I simply can’t imagine how Harriet managed to take care of them coupled with Cory’s kids and her baby. There wasn’t much focus on the struggles and challenges she experienced in terms of her job but it was all realistic enough.
Overall, ‘Harriet’ was a light, charming book filled with plenty of sweet and hilarious moments. It definitely surpassed my expectation.
December 6, 2021
⭐️⭐️⭐️ three stars -
Solid story, but characters are drawn without much depth really, except for Harriet. We never truly get to know the H.
This reads more like a classic gothic romance. Especially with the drawing of the supporting cast. Nonessential characters in this story are written in classic JC style, and I loved that part of it. There’s so many interesting secondary characters that add to the story, that you mostly don’t notice that there’s not much depth to them, but they truly do add to the overall plot.
Harriet is a wonderful character that’s young, naive, and mostly meek, but is still a pleasure to read. I enjoyed getting to know her, and cheered for her when she finally matured enough at the end of her character arc, and grew into her new role.
The romance between the H and h is written in the old school style, but is 100% fulfilling to this classic romance reader. While I’m not sure if I would reread this one anytime soon, it was still overall a pleasurable read, and JC is such a strong writer that you’re drawn into the world of our h.
Overall, I enjoyed it and definitely felt immersed in the story - something Cooper excels at.
Three solid stars.
Solid story, but characters are drawn without much depth really, except for Harriet. We never truly get to know the H.
This reads more like a classic gothic romance. Especially with the drawing of the supporting cast. Nonessential characters in this story are written in classic JC style, and I loved that part of it. There’s so many interesting secondary characters that add to the story, that you mostly don’t notice that there’s not much depth to them, but they truly do add to the overall plot.
Harriet is a wonderful character that’s young, naive, and mostly meek, but is still a pleasure to read. I enjoyed getting to know her, and cheered for her when she finally matured enough at the end of her character arc, and grew into her new role.
The romance between the H and h is written in the old school style, but is 100% fulfilling to this classic romance reader. While I’m not sure if I would reread this one anytime soon, it was still overall a pleasurable read, and JC is such a strong writer that you’re drawn into the world of our h.
Overall, I enjoyed it and definitely felt immersed in the story - something Cooper excels at.
Three solid stars.
April 4, 2016
I love books when just down on her luck women get strong despite their situation. Poor Harriet has opportunity to be strongest woman in the world according to her bad luck. I cried real tears. Lovely English book. You may need some translation!
October 21, 2019
This was a re-read of a book I think I read ten times when I was younger. Jilly Cooper writes a fantastic story - great characters, fun and romantic plots, and has a writing style that feels effortless. Reading this felt like reuniting with an old friend. Lots of good feels!
October 23, 2008
I read a lot of Jilly Cooper when I was a young teenager and learned an awful lot from her! I loved it at the time and think its about time I read them all again!
May 16, 2015
I'd always wanted to be a writer. This was the first book that made me feel I could do it.
November 6, 2019
Another good romp!
Having read this in my 20's I felt I had to read it again! Like the others by Jilly Cooper it was an absolute delight to re-read it!
Having read this in my 20's I felt I had to read it again! Like the others by Jilly Cooper it was an absolute delight to re-read it!
May 5, 2023
This was very cute. It is not a category romance, but there’s definitely a distinctive style to this author’s writing. Her heroines are very naïve and young, but they are extremely likable and the people they deal with are very authentic. She is the only person who doesn’t see how crazy the H is about her.
October 19, 2008
My most favourite one !
July 30, 2014
Cute, romantic and warming - just want you want from Jilly Cooper.
July 31, 2009
This book is awful, but good, fun times awful.
June 6, 2026
Did season 2 of Rivals just land, and am I already having withdrawals from the Cooper-verse? Yes, yes I am.
I’ve wanted to dive into Jilly Cooper’s writing since the first season of Rivals, and I’m actually quite cross that she wasn’t a formative part of my teenage reading in the way she clearly was for so many millennials (being on the cusp of Gen Z has never felt like such a curse). My mum speaks so fondly of Jilly's earlier works—formally known as the “romances”, but to her always the “girls’ names novels”—and of course I had to start with Harriet, not least because I suspect she may have partially served, alongside Harriet Makepeace, as inspiration for my own name.
Jilly’s writing is surprisingly astute, complex and eloquent. She has been unfairly pigeon-holed as the creator of “bonkbusters” and “trash”, but her ability to build such vivid, detailed worlds with a large ensemble of fully developed characters is nothing to sniff at. There is wit and warmth running through everything she writes; it disarms you, then quietly leaves you vulnerable to emotional subterfuge. Not to mention her subtle, deft social and political commentary.
And this is only one of her very early works, so I can only imagine how this evolves across the Rutshire Chronicles. Now that we have to wait until October for the rest of the episodes, I’m very keen to dive into the Rivals books.
And, Kelly Valentine Hendry, if you see this, please let me audition for season 3…
4*
I’ve wanted to dive into Jilly Cooper’s writing since the first season of Rivals, and I’m actually quite cross that she wasn’t a formative part of my teenage reading in the way she clearly was for so many millennials (being on the cusp of Gen Z has never felt like such a curse). My mum speaks so fondly of Jilly's earlier works—formally known as the “romances”, but to her always the “girls’ names novels”—and of course I had to start with Harriet, not least because I suspect she may have partially served, alongside Harriet Makepeace, as inspiration for my own name.
Jilly’s writing is surprisingly astute, complex and eloquent. She has been unfairly pigeon-holed as the creator of “bonkbusters” and “trash”, but her ability to build such vivid, detailed worlds with a large ensemble of fully developed characters is nothing to sniff at. There is wit and warmth running through everything she writes; it disarms you, then quietly leaves you vulnerable to emotional subterfuge. Not to mention her subtle, deft social and political commentary.
And this is only one of her very early works, so I can only imagine how this evolves across the Rutshire Chronicles. Now that we have to wait until October for the rest of the episodes, I’m very keen to dive into the Rivals books.
And, Kelly Valentine Hendry, if you see this, please let me audition for season 3…
4*
November 14, 2024
Jilly Coopers books always a warm Nostalgic Hug when needed
February 19, 2026
Romantika ziemas vakariem. :)
January 7, 2024
This book was a tiresome, boring experience. If anything, its good to see how far fiction has come.
November 11, 2023
absolutely ridiculous but also great
October 14, 2021
I want to preface this one-star review by saying I am a big-time, long-time fan of Jilly Cooper. I haven’t read everything she’s written because she’s approximately forty years older than me, and the chances are she’ll run out of time to write before I run out of time to read. So I’m rationing them, but when Sara Manning tweeted about this being one of her faves I figured I could dole myself out a small portion.
Two years ago I found Octavia and Emily in a second-hand shop. Up to that time I had been unaware that Cooper wrote these shorter novels before her famous white-cover bonkbusters. I enjoyed them, but felt they were very debut, in that they read like the outline of a book rather than the actual book.
Harriet suffers from that problem along with a host of others. Mostly this has to do with it being published in 1976. One thing Jilly ain’t is forward-thinking. Every single book of hers inhabits the worst version of how women were treated without questioning it, whether this was eighties, nineties, or noughties flavour misogyny. The only saving grace is that the women in the books don’t question it either; to do so would be to destroy the whole edifice. Indeed, romance as a genre is currently grappling with how to write heterosexual love stories in the ruined landscape of what #metoo et al. did to such tropes as ‘alpha male’.
So Harriet embodies the now-defunct stereotype of a hapless, helpless, ditzy female, who is rescued by a much-older male character who combines a father-lover role in a way that is complete anathema to twenty-first century mores. Although all fans of romance probably pine at times to be rescued, as a whole we’ve renounced this trope – and books like this are the reason why.
Harriet begins promisingly. She’s a bright student at Oxford who is knocked down by Simon on her way to a tutorial. Simon is king of the hot dudes on campus, and this is his initial description:
“He was wearing dark grey trousers, a black shirt, and a pale blue velvet coat like Peter Rabbit.”
This is amazing, and one of the gems of the talent that Cooper later hones to perfection.
Sadly, Simon is just using the viriginal Harriet, and soon gets bored of her. Unfortunately, she’s pregnant. Even though he offers to pay for an abortion, and everyone around Harriet is like, ‘Hello? Get an abortion’, Harriet does not get an abortion. Why?
“The reason I kept William really was because he was the only thing of Simon’s I had.”
THIS IS THE WORST RATIONALE FOR PARENTHOOD I HAVE EVER HEARD. And Harriet proceeds to prove them all right, by routinely forgetting her baby exists or needs to be fed even though for most of the action at Cory’s house he’s between three and six months old.
Harriet takes a job as a live-in nanny to a scriptwriter called Cory, who’s getting divorced from his glamorous actor wife Noel. (Why she’s called Noel and not ‘Noelle’ is never explained and drove me wild.) Harriet immediately prioritises Cory’s two children over her own, baby-aged child, to the point of being viciously jealous of the children, er, loving their actual mother best? If it wasn’t for a housekeeper (and omg, like, Harriet has a housekeeper and cook to pick up her slack, nice work if you can get it), her own baby would never be fed and minded. Harriet races to hospital with one of Cory’s children – where the staff proceed to withhold meningitis treatment for no reason except that Cooper appears to be unaware of how medicine works – and abandons her own child for ten whole days. Not only that, she doesn’t think about him once in that time. It's jaw-dropping neglect.
The whole scenario of Harriet dropping out of college and taking a menial job could have been achieved without her having a baby she keeps forgetting about, simply by making her reaction be depression over the abortion or losing Simon. She also wails or whimpers most of her dialogue, which made me want to reach through the page and strangle her.
So, yeah, a completely stupid and unsympathetic heroine, a paper-thin plot, and fucktons of drunk driving. The seventies were lawless. Unsurprisingly, Cooper reads better when she’s more experienced and better edited!
Two years ago I found Octavia and Emily in a second-hand shop. Up to that time I had been unaware that Cooper wrote these shorter novels before her famous white-cover bonkbusters. I enjoyed them, but felt they were very debut, in that they read like the outline of a book rather than the actual book.
Harriet suffers from that problem along with a host of others. Mostly this has to do with it being published in 1976. One thing Jilly ain’t is forward-thinking. Every single book of hers inhabits the worst version of how women were treated without questioning it, whether this was eighties, nineties, or noughties flavour misogyny. The only saving grace is that the women in the books don’t question it either; to do so would be to destroy the whole edifice. Indeed, romance as a genre is currently grappling with how to write heterosexual love stories in the ruined landscape of what #metoo et al. did to such tropes as ‘alpha male’.
So Harriet embodies the now-defunct stereotype of a hapless, helpless, ditzy female, who is rescued by a much-older male character who combines a father-lover role in a way that is complete anathema to twenty-first century mores. Although all fans of romance probably pine at times to be rescued, as a whole we’ve renounced this trope – and books like this are the reason why.
Harriet begins promisingly. She’s a bright student at Oxford who is knocked down by Simon on her way to a tutorial. Simon is king of the hot dudes on campus, and this is his initial description:
“He was wearing dark grey trousers, a black shirt, and a pale blue velvet coat like Peter Rabbit.”
This is amazing, and one of the gems of the talent that Cooper later hones to perfection.
Sadly, Simon is just using the viriginal Harriet, and soon gets bored of her. Unfortunately, she’s pregnant. Even though he offers to pay for an abortion, and everyone around Harriet is like, ‘Hello? Get an abortion’, Harriet does not get an abortion. Why?
“The reason I kept William really was because he was the only thing of Simon’s I had.”
THIS IS THE WORST RATIONALE FOR PARENTHOOD I HAVE EVER HEARD. And Harriet proceeds to prove them all right, by routinely forgetting her baby exists or needs to be fed even though for most of the action at Cory’s house he’s between three and six months old.
Harriet takes a job as a live-in nanny to a scriptwriter called Cory, who’s getting divorced from his glamorous actor wife Noel. (Why she’s called Noel and not ‘Noelle’ is never explained and drove me wild.) Harriet immediately prioritises Cory’s two children over her own, baby-aged child, to the point of being viciously jealous of the children, er, loving their actual mother best? If it wasn’t for a housekeeper (and omg, like, Harriet has a housekeeper and cook to pick up her slack, nice work if you can get it), her own baby would never be fed and minded. Harriet races to hospital with one of Cory’s children – where the staff proceed to withhold meningitis treatment for no reason except that Cooper appears to be unaware of how medicine works – and abandons her own child for ten whole days. Not only that, she doesn’t think about him once in that time. It's jaw-dropping neglect.
The whole scenario of Harriet dropping out of college and taking a menial job could have been achieved without her having a baby she keeps forgetting about, simply by making her reaction be depression over the abortion or losing Simon. She also wails or whimpers most of her dialogue, which made me want to reach through the page and strangle her.
So, yeah, a completely stupid and unsympathetic heroine, a paper-thin plot, and fucktons of drunk driving. The seventies were lawless. Unsurprisingly, Cooper reads better when she’s more experienced and better edited!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2018
This is the third book in the series that I've been re-reading recently & certainly the most palatable one so far. Once again the attitudes, especially those of the men, seem very dated & it's surprising how shocking the idea of an unmarried mother was even into the '70's.
At least I found Harriet to be a rather endearing character (which is more than I can say for Emily & Bella) & at least Cory wasn't a macho brute as some of the previous men have been...although at times he still had a slightly patronising attitude towards Harriet. Overall I found it a much more likeable story & I can see the basic premise working well as a rom-com.
At least I found Harriet to be a rather endearing character (which is more than I can say for Emily & Bella) & at least Cory wasn't a macho brute as some of the previous men have been...although at times he still had a slightly patronising attitude towards Harriet. Overall I found it a much more likeable story & I can see the basic premise working well as a rom-com.
May 14, 2011
A blast from the past.
I absolutely loved this book 40 years ago lol
Back in my twenties I worked as a nanny in Kent very near Seven Oaks and this book became a firm favourite. Sadly I did not get the family Harriet got lol.
Re reading this certainly brought back very happy memories of my time in Kent and while my reading choices are very different this one remains high for the nostalgia alone.
I absolutely loved this book 40 years ago lol
Back in my twenties I worked as a nanny in Kent very near Seven Oaks and this book became a firm favourite. Sadly I did not get the family Harriet got lol.
Re reading this certainly brought back very happy memories of my time in Kent and while my reading choices are very different this one remains high for the nostalgia alone.
February 27, 2016
Love Harriet and is my favourite of all these Jilly Cooper romance novels. A simple plotline, predictable ending but absolutely delightful to read. Dastardly cad Simon who leaves Harriet pregnant and to bring up his baby alone, bitchy and awful ex-wife (Noel) of writer Cory who employs Harriet as nanny to his children.
August 18, 2012
This is a bit out dated. Maybe this was a good book BITD but today, it just didn't do it for me.
October 30, 2012
Think Barbara Cartland in 70s guise..
February 1, 2013
Utterly as expected, ripping yarn.
November 12, 2020
Quite a good story enjoyed reading this book
February 20, 2023
so dated and of it's time! sexist, mysoginistic, racist - and a simpering, weak kneed heroine
Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews