Maeve Binchy, RIP

Beloved Irish author Maeve Binchy has passed away at the age of 72.

Her books, which focused on Irish life, have sold more than 40 million copies and were translated into 30 languages. Titles include Light A Penny Candle, Circle of Friends — which was adapted into a 1995 film starring Chris O’Donnell and Minnie Driver — Tara Road, Silver Wedding and The Glass Lake.

According to Irish media reports, her death came after a short illness. She recently posted on her website “My health isn’t so good these days and I can’t travel around to meet people the way I used to.”

Although Binchy announced her retirement in 2000, she continued writing, and her last novel Minding Frankie was published in 2010.

There have been many online tributes from fellow writers since the news broke.

“Maeve Binchy was a gregarious, larger than life, ebullient recorder of human foibles and wonderment. I’m taking a drink to her,” Ian Rankin posted on Twitter.

-Athena McKenzie