One of Britain’s most successful and beloved authors Dame Hilary Mantel died “suddenly yet peacefully” at 70yo on Friday. Considered one of the greatest English-language novelists of this century, Mantel was celebrated for her highly acclaimed Wolf Hall trilogy, charting a fictional account of Thomas Cromwell’s rise to power in the court of Henry VIII, which was made into a popular 2015 TV mini-series featuring Mark Rylance. Tributes continue to flow, including columnist/author Caitlin Moran who tweeted that it’s “devastating that we’ve collectively lost something so astonishing.” Mantel’s agent Bill Hamilton said her “wit, stylistic daring, creative ambition and phenomenal historical insight mark her out as one of the greatest novelists of our time.” The cause of Mantel’s death has not been revealed.