At the age of 91, internationally acclaimed author Barbara Taylor Bradford passed away quietly at home on Thursday, according to confirmation from her publishing business.
In a Facebook post, HarperCollins UK stated that the author was accompanied by loved ones when she passed away after a brief illness.
“Barbara Taylor Bradford was a truly exceptional writer,” HarperCollins CEO Charlie Redmayne stated. “For 45 years, she was a huge part of our company and a great, great friend we will miss her so much.”
Most people may know Bradford from her first book, “A Woman of Substance.” According to HarperCollins UK, the book, which was published in 1979, moved from bestseller to super seller in its first year and remained on the New York Times list for forty-three weeks.
Throughout her life, she authored 40 novels, all of which went on to become international bestsellers. According to HarperCollins UK, her books have sold over 91 million copies to date and have been published in 90 countries and more than 40 languages.
Working for more than two decades with a storyteller as amazing as Barbara was both an enormous honor and a lot of fun. Barbara Drew, her longtime publisher and editor at HarperCollins, stated, “She loved writing and the conversations we had about her characters were unfailingly the best hours of my week. She was incredibly driven, curious, and interested in everyone.” “I m so proud to have been her publisher for over 20 years working with her has been one of the great thrills of my career, and I and everyone at HarperCollins will miss her greatly.”
According to HarperCollins UK, Bradford began writing at the age of seven and sold her first short story to a magazine at the age of ten. She left school at the age of 15 to work for the Yorkshire Evening Post, where she eventually rose to the position of first woman’s editor at the age of 18. She was born and reared in Leeds. She relocated to London two years later to work as an editor and columnist.
In 1961, she met and fell in love with her husband, Robert Bradford, a Hollywood producer of television and movies. According to HarperCollins UK, they were married two years later and relocated to New York. They were together for 55 years till Robert passed away in July 2019.
Ten of Bradford’s works were adapted for television by her husband, a producer. Among the most well-known was the television version of A Woman of Substance, which featured Liam Neeson and Jenny Seagrove. With 13.8 million viewers on its opening date, the series set a record for Channel 4 in the UK in 1985 as its highest-ever audience and received two Emmy nominations, according to HarperCollins UK.
“Success never diluted her warmth and humour or her ability to relate to everyone she met, whether a cleaner or a princess,” Seagrove said of Bradford. “She never, ever lost sight of the fact that she was only a Yorkshire girl who put in a lot of effort and made excellent. Rest in peace, my beloved friend.
According to HarperCollins UK, Bradford received five Honorary Doctorates of Letters during her career, served as a UK ambassador for the National Literacy Trust, and spent six years on the Board of Literacy Partners in the United States.
According to the publishing business, HM The Queen presented the distinguished author with an OBE at Buckingham Palace in 2007 for her services to writing.
“[Bradford] was a legend in many respects, but her highest level of professionalism and commitment to her art were the most important. Jennifer Enderlin, President and Publisher of St. Martin’s Press, stated, “She never missed a deadline and if she said she was going to deliver her book on a Thursday, that’s when it would arrive.” “You would constantly be transported by Barbara’s novels. She embodied what it meant to be a woman of substance.
Following a private funeral, Bradford and her cherished husband Robert will be laid to rest at Westchester Hills Cemetery in New York, HarperCollins UK said.
According to her publishing firm, she was recently asked what would be on her epitaph. “She made her dreams come true,” Bradford said.
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