Tributes pour in for author Hilary Mantel who died a ‘sudden yet peaceful’ death earlier today

In a tweet, it wrote: “We are heartbroken 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 she left us with such a magnificent body of work.”

We are heartbroken 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 she left us with such a magnificent body of work. pic.twitter.com/VMXBMMatka

— HarperCollinsUK (@HarperCollinsUK) September 23, 2022

The author became the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2006, and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2014 for her services to the world of literature. Since then, she has been called ‘Dame’ Hilary Mantel.

Mantel won the Booker Prize twice — once in 2009 for ‘Wolf Hall‘, which was the first in the ‘Thomas Cromwell series’, and then in her 2012 follow-up ‘Bring Up the Bodies‘. She concluded her trilogy in 2020 with ‘The Mirror and the Light‘, which was longlisted for The Booker Prize that year.

The acclaimed trilogy, a BBC report states, is a fictional account of the rise of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII. He was the former secretary of state of the Kingdom of England who was put to death for “treason and heresy”.

According to a Guardian report, the author suffered from a severe form of endometriosis, for which she underwent a surgery and was “unable to have children”. She was quoted as telling Times in 2012: “Sometimes, people try to persuade me that it’s made me a better writer in some way, or that it has meant that I could keep the world at bay. But I’d rather cope with the world than cope with pain, and the uncertainty that goes with it.”

Our full statement on Dame Hilary Mantel.https://t.co/20OA9Tm99M pic.twitter.com/nz1OV3l4qR

— 4th Estate Books (@4thEstateBooks) September 23, 2022

Mantel was born in Derbyshire in July 1952, and studied law at the London School of Economics and Sheffield University. She married geologist Gerald McEwan in 1972, but the couple divorced in 1981; they remarried in 1982, per the Guardian report.

In her life, Mantel published 17 acclaimed books, including ‘The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher‘, ‘Every Day is Mother’s Day‘, to name a few.

Following the news of her death, many tributes were shared on Twitter. Harry Potter author JK Rowling wrote, “We’ve lost a genius.”

We’ve lost a genius. https://t.co/SM5UlOBFtw

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 23, 2022

Check out these other tweets that honoured her life and oeuvre.

In 2009, a lady came to a conference we had at Hampton Court, about the life of Henry VIII. She sat quietly at the back making notes. She was reputed to be a novelist. I did not know then that a goddess was walking among us.

— Lucy Worsley (@Lucy_Worsley) September 23, 2022

“So very sorry to hear about Hilary Mantel’s passing. We were so lucky to have such a massive talent in our midst. I met her a few times and she was always so warm, down-to-earth and welcoming. RIP,” fellow Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo wrote on Twitter.

We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Dame Hilary Mantel and would like to extend our sympathies to her friends, family and all at @4thEstateBooks. It has been one of our greatest pleasures to be so closely involved in such an impressive body of work. She was a genius. pic.twitter.com/S7EL0pNpFe

— Waterstones (@Waterstones) September 23, 2022

“I have written books and I cannot unwrite them. I cannot unbelieve what I believe. I cannot unlive my life” – Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall. So very sad to hear of the death of the magnificent Dame Hilary Mantel. What a loss and what a legacy she leaves us with. pic.twitter.com/SRXbprJqK7

— Dr Owen Emmerson (@DrOwenEmmerson) September 23, 2022

I am deeply saddened by news of Dame Hilary Mantel’s death. She had an utterly unique and brilliant mind, and was immensely kind and generous to upcoming writers. I held her in great respect, admiration, and affection. My heart rushes to her husband.

— Suzannah Lipscomb (@sixteenthCgirl) September 23, 2022

We are so very very sad to hear of the sudden death of Dame Hilary Mantel, our President for many years and a huge supporter of the festival. The world has lost a brilliant writer and we have lost a friend. Our hearts go out to Gerald and her family. pic.twitter.com/yx9xqWcuYW

— Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival (@BudleighLitFest) September 23, 2022

The founders and judges of the Walter Scott Prize are beyond saddened by the death of Hilary Mantel. Dame Hilary won the Prize twice; for Wolf Hall in 2010, and for The Mirror and the Light in 2021, and was a warm, gracious and generous winner. How we will miss her. pic.twitter.com/tJI1N73w6e

— Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction (@waltscottprize) September 23, 2022

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