Exeter, UK: Best-selling British author of the award-winning Wolf Hall trilogy, Ms. Hilary Mantel, passed away peacefully at the age of 70.
Wolf Hall published in 2009 and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, published three years later, together sold more than 5 million copies worldwide with both winning Booker Prize, an unheard, unprecedented success for two books in the same trilogy.
The final in the series, The Mirror & The Light, was published in March 2020.
“It is with great sadness that bestselling author Dame Hilary Mantel DBE died peacefully, surrounded by close family and friends. Hilary Mantel will always be remembered as a truly original writer. She leaves behind an impressive body of work that continues to inspire readers around the world.” a statement on Ms. Mantel’s publisher 4th Estate Books’ website shared.
LIFE BRIEF
Ms. Mantel studied law at the London School of Economics and Sheffield University and initially worked as a social worker. The author turned to fiction while living in Botswana for five years with her geologist husband Mr. Gerald McEwen.
The pair divorced citing Ms. Mantel’s illness and infertility due to the treatment, but later remarried. Ms. Mantel also lived in Saudi Arabia for four years, returning to Britain in the mid-1980s.
Ms. Mantel’s first novel, Every Day is Mother’s Day, was published in 1985. In total, Ms. Mantel wrote 17 books, including non-fiction works.