Edna O'Brien wrote more than twenty celebrated works of fiction, as well as plays and four works of non-fiction. She was the recipient of many literary honours, as well as being appointed an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2017 and Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2021. Born and raised in the west of Ireland, she lived in London for many years before her death in July 2024.