The 70-year-old, who twice won the Man Booker Prize for her novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, died “suddenly but peacefully” in the United States circles of her family. Born in Glossop in 1952, Mantel worked as a social worker in London after studying law. Her debut novel, Every Day Is Mother’s Day, was published in 1985. Her first historical novel, A Place of Greater Safety, tells the life of Danton, Robespierre and Desmoulins before and after the French Revolution.
The award-winning author was lauded by critics, but it wasn’t until her Tudor trilogy that she found commercial success. In “Wolves” (2009) and “Falcons” (2012), Mantel traced the rise of Oliver Cromwell (1485–1540), who went down in history as a champion of the English Reformation and architect of a modern administration. In the final volume “Spiegel und Licht” (2020) she showed Cromwell at the height of his power and yet at the mercy of the whims of his master Henry VIII. The trilogy has sold more than five million copies worldwide and has been translated into 41 languages.
“A Source of Excitement”
Coat suffered from chronic endometriosis throughout his life. In an interview in early September, when asked how fit she was, she said: “My health is unpredictable and a daily source of tension.” When asked if she believed in life after death, she answered “yes”. Mantel added that while she couldn’t imagine how this would work, the universe isn’t limited by her imagination.
Source: Nachrichten
