Fay Weldon has died aged 91, her son has confirmed.
The award-winning British novelist was best known for her novels The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, Splitting and the Booker prize-shortlisted Praxis.
She also achieved screenwriting credits in ITV's Upstairs Downstairs and the BBC's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
A family statement said: “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.”
Writer Roger Clarke, who is her nephew, also announced the news of her death on Twitter.
“I just heard the news from her son Dan that my beloved aunt Fay Weldon died this morning,” he posted.
“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.
In 2016, she told The Independent about her first novel: "It took two male-dominated industries by surprise: TV (brash, brittle and new) and publishing (seen in those days as a venerable gentleman’s profession).
"What surprised them both was that a work by a woman and about a woman sold not just well, but very well.”
The writer also wrote children's books, non-fiction books and news stories.
Not only did she write books, but she also became one of the writers of the series Upstairs, Downstairs.
Fay received an award from the Writers Guild of America for the series' first episode.
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.
In 2012, she was appointed Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University.
Her literary works include Down Among the Women, Female Friends, Remember Me, The President's Child, The Cloning of Joanna May, and The Bulgari Connection.
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