Bestselling British novelist Penny Vincenzi dead at 78

LONDON – British writer Penny Vincenzi, whose stories of romance, rivalry and family secrets topped bestseller lists, has died. She was 78.

Publisher Headline says Vincenzi died peacefully Sunday. The cause of death wasn’t given.

Vincenzi worked as a journalist before publishing her first novel “Old Sins,” in 1989. Her 17 novels and two story collections sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. Her last book, “A Question of Trust,” was published in 2017.

Her four daughters said in a statement Tuesday that she was “a true trailblazer” who broke down barriers. Fellow novelist Sophie Kinsella said Vincenzi was “like one of her own novels: once you were in her company you didn’t want to say goodbye.”

She is survived by daughters Polly Harding, Sophie Cornish, Emily Gunnis and Claudia Vincenzi.