Philip Hensher

The brilliance of A.S. Byatt lives on in her writing

AS.. Byatt (Credit: PA images)

Dame Antonia Byatt, the novelist A.S. Byatt, has died after a long illness. With her goes part of the conscience of English fiction; its heart, its power to think, its capacity for feeling both wild and exact. She was one of the most generous people I ever knew.   

One of the things you had to accept if you were a friend of Antonia’s was that she was interested in a lot of things that you knew nothing about.

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Written by
Philip Hensher
Philip Hensher is professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and the author of 11 novels including A Small Revolution in Germany.

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