British author of 'Wolf Hall' trilogy Hilary Mantel passes away

Award winning British author Hilary Mantel breathed her last on Thursday, her agent announced on Twitter. The author died at 70 in the presence of her close family and friends in what has been said a sudden and peaceful death.

Mantel who became the first woman to win the prestigious Booker Prize twice, is best known for her Wolf Hall trilogy.

A statement released by publishers HarperCollins said: "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.”

Born on July 6, 1952, in Glossop, Derbyshire in England, Mantel received the prestigious Booker Prize twice, for 2009's Wolf Hall, the first in the Thomas Cromwell series, and the 2012 follow-up Bring Up the Bodies, which also won the 2012 Costa Book of the Year. To date, The Wolf Hall trilogy has been translated into 41 languages with sales of over 5 million worldwide.

The conclusion to her trilogy, The Mirror and the Light, was published in 2020 to much critical acclaim, became a fiction best-seller and was longlisted for The Booker Prize 2020. Mantel was the first woman to receive the Booker Prize twice.