Barbara Taylor Bradford, Best-Selling Author of A Woman of Substance, Dies at 91

The beloved author died following a short illness on Nov. 24, her representatives confirmed to PEOPLE in a statement

The best-selling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford has died. She was 91.

The British-American author died “peacefully at her home” following a short illness on Sunday, Nov. 24, PEOPLE can confirm.

Bradford’s representatives said in a statement to PEOPLE: “With the deepest and heartfelt sadness, it is confirmed that Barbara Taylor Bradford OBE has died. Barbara, 91, died peacefully at her home yesterday following a short illness, and was surrounded by loved ones to the very end.”

The writer leaves behind a legacy of work as one the world’s most prolific writers, having sold over 91 million copies of her books and written 40 best-selling novels including Three Weeks in Paris (2002), To Be the Best (1988), and her most recent title The Wonder of It All (November 2023).

The beloved writer was born and raised in Leeds, England in May 1933. She sold her first short story to a magazine at age 10 and left school at age 15 to embark on her writing career as she joined the U.K. newspaper the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Bradford became a reporter on the regional outlet a year later and its first woman’s editor by age 18. At age 20, she moved to London and worked as a columnist and editor on the British national newspapers.