In a statement, publisher 4th Estate books said: “We are devastated at the death of our beloved author, Dame Hilary Mantel, and our thoughts are with her friends and family, especially her husband, Gerald. “This is a devastating loss and we can only be grateful that he left us with such a wonderful project.” The Derbyshire-born British author won the Booker Prize for Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies. The trilogy’s conclusion, Mirror and the Light, was published in 2020. It was an instant fiction bestseller and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize that same year, winning the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, a first for Wolf Room. The trilogy, depicting the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell at the court of King Henry VIII, made her an international star. It has been translated into 41 languages, with sales of over five million worldwide. The first two books were adapted for the screen and broadcast on BBC Two in January 2015, with the six-part series gaining huge critical acclaim, attracting an average audience of over four million viewers. Directed by Peter Kosminsky, the series starred Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell, Damian Lewis as Henry VIII and Claire Foy as Anne Boleyn. At the 2016 Television BAFTAs, it won Best Drama Series, while Rylance won Best Actor for his performance. At the Golden Globes that same year, it won best miniseries. Paying tribute, publishers HarperCollins described Dame Hilary as “one of the greatest English novelists of this century”. “Her favorite works are considered modern classics. She will be greatly missed.” Her writing career spanned decades, from the publication of her first novel Every Day Is Mother’s Day in 1985, to becoming film critic for Spectator magazine in 1987, before regularly winning literary awards for her books. Nicholas Pearson, the former publishing director of the 4th Estate and Dame Hilary’s long-term editor, has revealed that he has been working on a new book. “Just last month I sat with her on a sunny afternoon in Devon as she talked excitedly about the new novel she had started. “That we will no longer have the pleasure of her words is unbearable. What we have is a body of work that will be read for generations. We should be grateful for that. I will miss her and my thoughts are with her husband Gerald ». Harry Potter author JK Rowling shared a tweet from 4th Estate Books announcing Mantel’s death, writing “We have lost a genius.” When she won her first Booker Prize, Dame Hilary famously said she would spend the money on “sex, drugs and rock and roll”. The second time he joked about the restoration. She was no stranger to controversy and was outspoken on a range of issues including the monarchy – and Brexit, saying in 2021 that she hoped to gain Irish citizenship, leave the country and become “European again”. In 2013 he famously spoke of Kate Middleton – now Princess of Wales – being forced to appear in public as a “mannequin” with no personality. The following year in an interview he recalled imagining the assassination of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which he later wrote as a short story. She was also outspoken in her desire for the UK to become a democracy, describing “the howling phenomenon of monarchy” as “absurd”. The author also criticized the Catholic Church in 2012, saying it was no longer “an institution for respectable people”. The author experienced chronic illness throughout her life, having a severe form of endometriosis that took many years to diagnose and left her unable to have children. Bill Hamilton, Dame Hilary’s agent at literary agency AM Heath, said it had been the “greatest privilege” to work with her throughout her career, adding that she would also be remembered for her “ability to electrify a live public”. He said: “Her wit, stylistic boldness, creative ambition and astonishing historical insight make her one of the greatest novelists of our time.” “Emails from Hillary were peppered with quips and quips as she observed the world with glee and fell on the lazy or unreasonable and nailed cruelty and prejudice,” he said. “There was always a slight aura of otherness about her, as she saw and felt things us mere mortals missed, but when she sensed the need for a confrontation, she fearlessly went into battle. “And all this against the backdrop of chronic health problems, which she faced so stoically. She will be missed immensely, but as a shining light for writers and readers she leaves an extraordinary legacy. Our thoughts are with her beloved husband Gerald, family and friends.”
