Araminta's Wedding: A Country House Extravaganza

by Jilly Cooper, Sue Macartney-Snape (Illustrator)

A Country House Extravaganza Story by Jilly Cooper. Pictures by Sue Macartney-Snape.

Rufus, fifth Earl of Atherstone, has no son and gloomily contemplates his vast Lincolnshire estate passing into the hands of his plain but good-natured daughter, Araminta, and her grasping cousin, Piggy Atherstone, who is determined to marry her. A serious rival for Araminta's hand, however, materialises in Bounder Cartwright, a debonair money-market gambler, whose sexual conquests are as prolific as his investments are suddenly catastrophic. By Ascot he has won the day and the wedding is fixed for September.

Then, at the last minute, the events of the previous Boxing Night catch up with the Atherstones in a surprising way. Will the wedding take place or not?

The combination of Jilly Cooper's irreverent tale of country house life with the colourful and perceptive paintings of Sue Macartney-Snape which inspired it, presents a wickedly funny portrait of the English upper classes at play. Araminta's Wedding is irresistible fireside reading for even the coldest of stately homes.

154 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 11, 1993

About the author

Dame 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.

Reviews

[Bruddenbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been a little under the weather today and was in the mood for something light and thoroughly silly. Inspired by the delicious Lord Peter Wimsey (see previous post), I unearthed ARAMINTA'S WEDDING, a "countryhouse extravaganza". 🍾👀🇬🇧

Golly, the book is even sillier than I remembered and also a tad less enjoyable. "Posh" names such as Flappy Foxe-Whapshott, Master Hiccup and Paddy Ponsonby-Parker as well as the illustrations that the story is based on were fun, fat-jokes and such like haven't aged too well. I liked that almost every character had a dog friend though.

Overall a little more "meh" than mah-vellous! Have you seen this book around? It was published in the early 1990s and has fallen into obscurity (I daresay rightly so 😂).

[Mrs B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talented artist Sue Macartney-Snape has produced a number of clever portraits of the upper echelons, and author Jilly Cooper has woven a fun narrative around these.
The story features heiress Araminta, who is besieged by various hanger-on admirers, who have their eyes on the prize. Worst is the ghastly Piggy, with his trotters at the trough, and nearly-as-ghastly Bounder is close behind.
Will Araminta get her happy ending? There are surprisingly dark notes in this short story (abandoned and lonely wives, loveless aunts who would kill themselves if it weren’t for the dogs).

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jilly Cooper has always been of my favorite escapes. In this book she writes about the goings on in among an Upper Class group. Each chapter begins with some of the best art work I've seen in a long time. Both the art and writing are a hoot!

[DocNora · Rating 2 out of 5]

5stars for the wonderful illustrations and the 2 for the text...Absolutely adore the illustrations though.

[Marie-Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great fun - Jilly Cooper's zingy wit and Sue Macartney-Snape's wonderful illustrations are the ideal marriage for this Sloane Ranger Romp-fest.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good JC trashy novel with the upper class. Loved the illustrations accompanying the book

[cellomerl · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is nothing I don't love about Jilly, and the illustrations in this book are wonderful.