Dame Hilary Mantel, author of the Wolf Hall trilogy, has died aged 70, it has been announced by her publisher.
Mantel won the Booker Prize first in 2009 for Wolf Hall, and again for its sequel Bring Up The Bodies in 2012. Her publisher HarperCollins said in a statement that the twice Booker winning prize writer died on Thursday "suddenly yet peacefully" surrounded by close family and friends.
They added: "Hilary Mantel was one of the greatest English novelists of this century and her beloved works are considered modern classics. She will be greatly missed." In a post on Twitter, they said it was a "devastation loss" and that they could "only be grateful she left us with such a magnificent body of work" as they sent their thoughts to her family and friends.
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Dame Hilary concluded the Wolf Hall trilogy in 2020 with the publication of the critically acclaimed The Mirror & The Light, winning the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, which she also won for Wolf Hall. The trilogy, which has been translated into 41 languages and sold more than five million copies worldwide, charts the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell in the court of King Henry VIII.
Her work was later adapted for stage and screen, with the Royal Shakespeare Company putting on productions of the first two books in 2013. In 2021, The Mirror & The Light was staged in London, having been adopted by Dame Hilary, and Cromwell being played by Ben Miles.
The story was also adapted into a BBC Two TV series which was broadcast in 2015, starring Sir Mark Rylance as Cromwell. It was a critical success and won several awards, including three BAFTAs and a Golden Globe.
Dame Hilary also published several other novels and short story collections over the years, including the Every Day is Mother's Day series and a memoir, Giving Up the Ghost in 2003.
Bill Hamilton, Dame Hilary's agent at literary agency A.M. Heath, said it had been the "greatest privilege" to work with her. He said: "Her wit, stylistic daring, creative ambition and phenomenal historical insight mark her out as one of the greatest novelists of our time.
"She will be remembered for her enormous generosity to other budding writers, her capacity to electrify a live audience, and the huge array of her journalism and criticism, producing some of the finest commentary on issues and books."
He added: "We will miss her immeasurably, but as a shining light for writers and readers she leaves an extraordinary legacy. Our thoughts go out to her beloved husband Gerald, family and friends."
Nicholas Pearson, Mantel's long-term editor, said the news of her death was "devastating" for all those who knew and worked with her. He added: "As a person, Hilary was kind and generous and loving, always a great champion of other writers.
"She was a joy to work with… That we won’t have the pleasure of any more of her words is unbearable.
"What we do have is a body of work that will be read for generations. We must be grateful for that. I will miss her and my thoughts are with her husband Gerald."
Dame Hilary was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was made a CBE in 2006 and a Dame in 2014. She is survived by her husband Gerald McEwen, who she married on September 23, 1972.
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