Growing up there was always one book on my grandparents’ shelf that intrigued me. It protruded from the line-up, begging to be read; bold gold lettering brandishing the spine, with a cover that showed a woman’s bottom in white jodhpurs being caressed by a man’s tanned hand, peaking out of a red riding jacket. It was, of course, Riders by Dame Jilly Cooper, the first in the Rutshire Chronicles, which has sold over one million copies in the UK since its publication in 1985.