Hilary Mantel death: British author of Wolf Hall trilogy dies aged 70

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Dame Hilary Mantel has been hailed as “one of the greatest novelists of our time” after it was announced she has died following a stroke aged 70. Allies of Thatcher called for a police investigation, to which Mantel responded: “Bringing in the police for an investigation was beyond anything I could have planned or hoped for, because it immediately exposes them to ridicule.” Bill Hamilton, who was Mantel’s agent throughout her career, said it had been “the greatest privilege” to work with the writer: “Her wit, stylistic daring, creative ambition and phenomenal historical insight mark her out as one of the greatest novelists of our time,” he said. “There was always a slight aura of otherworldliness about her, as she saw and felt things us ordinary mortals missed, but when she perceived the need for confrontation she would fearlessly go into battle.” Ben Miles, who played Cromwell in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Wolf Hall, echoed his words, saying Mantel was “one of the greatest writers of our time,” adding: “She was an extraordinary woman. “But I’d rather cope with the world than cope with pain, and the uncertainty that goes with it.” Mantel married geologist Gerald McEwen in 1973.