In the Footsteps of Fiction

Now here's a novel way to get to know the Cotswolds – several, in fact. We've picked classic books set in the region that do far more than use these rolling hills as an empty backdrop. Each has something authentic to say about this honeyed idyll.

Now here's a novel way to get to know the Cotswolds – several, in fact. We've picked classic books set in the region that do far more than use these rolling hills as an empty backdrop. Each has something authentic to say about this honeyed idyll (though we're certainly not confirming, a la Jilly Cooper, that the world of Cotswold show jumping is one of Bolly, brawls and bawdy) (or, if it is, it's sadly passed us by). What we do say is that you'll have great fun reading any, or all, of the following.

Riders by Jilly Cooper: 1986

If you haven't seen the Disney+ version of Jilly Cooper's Rivals, then what are you waiting for! It's a glorious bonkbuster of a TV series based on a glorious bonkbuster of a book (with a naked tennis scene that will forever change your attitude to balls). And while the stellar cast shines, it's the Cotswolds that take centre stage. The second novel in Jilly's Rutshire Chronicles (all the information is in the title), it follows the shenanigans of an upper-class cast led by devilish Rupert Campbell-Black. But we suggest you start with the first in the series. 'Riders was a love affair with the Cotswolds,' Jilly once said. 'If you read most of the books, the houses are findable because I need a geographical location.' jillycooper.co.uk

Living Dangerously by Katie Fforde: 1995

Another best-selling novelist, Katie Fforde lives near Stroud. Indeed, the town was the star of her very first novel, Living Dangerously. While working as 'salad girl' in the kitchen of a wholefood cafe, she took time off during the summer 'because I couldn't afford the childcare'. Luckily for us, she wrote instead. Her inspiration for the plot included Stroud's real-life 'Save Our High Street' campaign: the result is a witty, deliciously romantic tale. 'One of the characters was based on a real person, Mac, whose hobbies were Appalachian clog-dancing and cruise-missile watching,' she says. 'I asked if I could include him and he agreed – as long as I used his real name.' katiefforde.com

Agatha Raisin: The Quiche of Death by MC Beaton: 1992

Think that baking competitions in golden-stoned villages are gentle affairs...? Rookie error. And one that crime-solving Agatha Raisin will correct. Agatha has given up a successful London PR business to retire to the tranquil Cotswold hamlet of Carsely (think real-life Blockley, if you will). But when one of the judges keels over after sampling her efforts, it's clear The Quiche of Death contained something more sinister than eggs. The author – the late Marion Chesney – was also an incomer. 'Agatha had the same feeling as me: a city person coming to the Cotswolds,' she once said. To begin with, the hills look unfamiliar and alien. Then you return to London, and you don't fit in anymore. 'Suddenly, you can't wait to get back on the train again. And going down into Blockley, there is this tunnel of trees arching over the road, and it's like plunging into a burrow; a feeling of protection. I've never felt anything like it before.' mcbeaton.com

Tommy Glover's Sketch of Heaven by Jane Bailey: 2005

Jane Bailey's evocations of childhood are a delight: and none more so than in Tommy Glover's Sketch of Heaven, set during the Second World War. Eight-year-old Kitty Green is an East End evacuee, sent to live in the Cotswold village of Sheepcote. Lost and lonely, her attempts to seek affection from the unhappy couple who've taken her in are rebuffed. Instead, she befriends the village outsiders: American airmen, gypsies, German POWs, orphans and, above all, Tommy Glover. A romance and a mystery, it is also a paean to the beauty of Gloucestershire: its hedgerow-lined lanes; its flower-scented fields; its sunshine and clouds; its every shade of green. jane-bailey.co.uk

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford: 1945

The first in a trilogy, The Pursuit of Love, set between the wars, follows the story of Linda Radlett and her eccentric English family. If you think the characters Nancy Mitford describes are too quirky to be true, then think again. It's based on her own childhood, growing up in the Oxfordshire Cotswold village of Swinbrook. All six of the Mitford sisters went on – one way or another – to find fame (and, in some cases, notoriety). The late Debo Mitford, who became much-admired Chatsworth doyenne the Duchess of Devonshire, acknowledged theirs was a world long vanished. TV adaptations include BBC's 2021 The Pursuit of Love starring Lily James. nancymitford.com

I Died at Fallow Hall by Bonnie Burke-Patel: 2024

And it really is a 'bang' when a skeleton with gunshot wound is discovered buried in a garden in I Died at Fallow Hall, the debut novel from Bonnie Burke-Patel. Bonnie, who grew up in South Gloucestershire, uses her local knowledge to recreate versions of a remote Cotswold cottage where heroine Anna Deerin lives; as well as the fictional village of Upper Magna, and the very real town of Cirencester. Anna, a gardener, is piecing together a new life in the country when she digs up some bones in a vegetable bed. What follows is a country-house mystery bound up with age-old questions about gender, family, community, race and British identity. Bedford Square Publishers

Rough Patch: How a Year in the Garden Brought Me Back to Life by Kathy Slack: 2025

You might well be familiar with Kathy Slack's fab recipe book, From the Veg Patch. Rough Patch is rather different: a fascinating combination, it's part memoir, part gardening, part recipes. The whole adds up to an important account of the breakdown Kathy experienced a decade ago, while negotiating the high-flying world of advertising... As well as the recovery she made through working in her Cotswold vegetable garden. It's not, at times, an easy read: Kathy's descriptions of her mental torment are visceral. But so, too, is her evocative writing about the feel of soil in her hands; her awe at seeing the first green shoots of seeds she has planted. Of eating that seed in the form of nourishing vegetables on her plate. It is scary, funny, and – above all – a way of understanding the world. One that offers beautifully laid out lessons for us all. kathyslack.com