Fay Weldon, the Pride and Prejudice screenwriter and award winning author, has died at the age of 91.
Tributes paid by her family remembered the life of the novelist, who was most well known for her books The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, Splitting and Praxis, reports the Mirror.
Alongside her work as a writer, she also achieved screenwriting credits in ITV's Upstairs Downstairs. She also worked on the BBC's 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, which starred Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.
A family statement announced the death, saying: “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Fay Weldon (CBE), author, essayist and playwright. She died peacefully this morning January 4, 2023.”
Fellow writer Roger Clarke, who is her nephew, also announced the news of her death on social media. He said: “I just heard the news from her son Dan that my beloved aunt Fay Weldon died this morning. I’m so glad to have known her. I only met her after tracking down my biological family.
"She was wise, funny and true. She helped me so much. I’ll miss her, everything about her.”
Fay previously revealed in a statement posted on her website that she was admitted to the hospital with a broken bone in her back and then with a stroke. The author, who was born in 1931, was raised in New Zealand before returning to the UK as a young child.
She studied economics and psychology at the University of St Andrews and even received an honorary doctorate from the same university in 1990. For a short period of time, she worked at the Foreign Office in London as well as a reporter before becoming an advertising copywriter.
Fay later left that career and published her first book, The Fat Woman's Joke, in 1967. The author was also made Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University in 2006 and said there was 'a great deal to be taught' in how to become a great writer.
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