Bestselling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford dies aged 91

A prolific author, the British novelist has written around forty novels which have sold more than 91 million copies.

Barbara Taylor Bradford, author of bestsellers translated around the world including The Space of a Lifedied at the age of 91, her publishing house announced Monday, November 25, 2024. She died out “peacefully” at his home Sunday November 24, “surrounded by loved ones”, HarperCollins said on social media. A private funeral will take place in New York (United States), where she lived since the 1960s.

A prolific author, she has written around forty novels which have sold more than 91 million copies. The latest, The Wonder of It All, not yet translated into French, was released in 2023.

“Barbara Taylor Bradford was a truly exceptional writer whose first book, the international bestseller A Woman Of Substance changed the lives of so many people who read it”, said Charlie Redmayne, CEO of HarperCollins. This book, which launched his career, has sold more than 30 million copies. It was also the subject of a television adaptation and received two nominations for the Emmy Awards, the equivalent of the Oscars for American television. It was the first in a series of global successes, including Letter from a stranger or The Secret of Emma Harte.

Her novels each time follow more or less the same narrative structure: a heroine who seeks fulfillment despite difficulties. His books are more family sagas than romance novels.

Born in Leeds, central England, in May 1933, she began her career as a typist at the local newspaper Yorkshire Evening Post, before being promoted to reporter. At the age of 20, she moved to London where she worked as a journalist at London Evening News. She was awarded an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in 2007.