Award-winning novelist Nancy Richler has died in Vancouver at the age of 60 following a long battle with cancer.
HarperCollins Canada said in a news release that Richler died Thursday in hospital.
The Montreal-born author spent most of her adult life in British Columbia, where she wrote short fiction and novels.
Iris Tupholme, senior vice-president and executive publisher at HarperCollins, said Richler was an elegant writer whose work resonated with readers in Canada and abroad.
91ƵShe had an extraordinary ability to see into the human heart to create complex characters who survived war, displacement and loss but who also cherished beauty and kindness and searched for happiness,91Ƶ Tupholme said in a statement.
Richler91Ƶs short stories were published in several American and Canadian literary journals.
She also wrote three novels, the most recent being 91ƵThe Imposter Bride,91Ƶ which was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2012.
HarperCollins said the jury described the book as a 91Ƶwonderfully nuanced work of fiction by a master of the craft.91Ƶ
Richler91Ƶs agent, Dean Cooke, said he will never forget the moment he called her to tell her she91Ƶd been shortlisted for the prize.
91ƵShe was washing her floor and acknowledged the call but told me she really had to get back to the cleaning. It was only later that she fully understood the import of that moment,91Ƶ he said in a statement.
91ƵNancy91Ƶs work was crucial to the development and success of my agency in the early years, but more importantly, I valued her friendship beyond measure. She was a beautiful writer and a more beautiful person.91Ƶ
Richler won the 2003 Canadian Jewish Book Award for Fiction for her book 91ƵYour Mouth Is Lovely,91Ƶ and the 1997 Arthur Ellis Award for the crime novel 91ƵThrowaway Angels.91Ƶ
She is survived by her partner Vicki Trerise, her sister, and a brother.
The Canadian Press
Like us on and follow us on .