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.

鈥淪he 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,鈥� Tupholme said in a statement.

Richler鈥檚 short stories were published in several American and Canadian literary journals.

She also wrote three novels, the most recent being 鈥淭he Imposter Bride,鈥� which was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2012.

HarperCollins said the jury described the book as a 鈥渨onderfully nuanced work of fiction by a master of the craft.鈥�

Richler鈥檚 agent, Dean Cooke, said he will never forget the moment he called her to tell her she鈥檇 been shortlisted for the prize.

鈥淪he 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,鈥� he said in a statement.

鈥淣ancy鈥檚 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.鈥�

Richler won the 2003 Canadian Jewish Book Award for Fiction for her book 鈥淵our Mouth Is Lovely,鈥� and the 1997 Arthur Ellis Award for the crime novel 鈥淭hrowaway Angels.鈥�

She is survived by her partner Vicki Trerise, her sister, and a brother.

The Canadian Press

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