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

Mar. 15, 2025

Barbara Taylor Bradford.Photo:Desiree Navarro/WireImage

Desiree Navarro/WireImage

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.

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 includingThree Weeks in Paris(2002),To Be the Best(1988), and her most recent titleThe 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 theYorkshire Evening Post.

Bradford pictured in New York City in March 1992.Steve Allen/Liaison

Steve Allen/Liaison

In 1979, Bradford published her debut novelA Woman of Substance, which became her first bestseller and remained on theNew York Times’ list for 43 weeks.

Seagrove, 67, said in tribute to Bradford, “We saw each other whenever she and her beloved Bob were in London … and talked about everything under the sun. She never changed. Success never diluted her warmth and humor or her ability to relate to everyone she met … She never, ever forgot that she was just a girl from Yorkshire that worked hard and made food. RIP dear friend.”

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Bradford pictured in April 2013 at The Plaza Hotel in New York City.Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic

Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic

Bradford was an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust in the U.K. and a member of the Board of Literacy Partners in the U.S. for six years. She received five Honorary Doctorates of Letters from several institutions across the U.K., New York and the wider U.S. in her career.

Bradford’s long-term publisher at HarperCollins, Lynne Drew, said in a statement, “Working with a storyteller as remarkable as Barbara for over 20 years was a huge privilege but also a huge amount of fun … She was an inspiration for millions of readers and countless writers … working with her has been one of the great thrills of my career, and I and everyone at HarperCollins will miss her greatly.”

A private funeral for Bradford will be held at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue. She will be buried alongside her husband at Westchester Hills Cemetery in New York.

source: people.com