Literature: "Last Bend" for VS Naipaul' Nobel-winning novelist dies, 85

-BBC

Novelist Sir VS Naipaul, who won the Nobel Prize in literature, has died at his home in London aged 85, his family have said.

Sir Vidia, who was born in rural Trinidad in 1932, was known for works including A Bend in the River and his masterpiece, A House for Mr Biswas.

The author, who wrote more than 30 books, won the Booker Prize in 1971 and the Nobel Prize in literature in 2001.

His wife Lady Naipaul called him a "giant in all that he achieved".

She said he died "surrounded by those he loved having lived a life which was full of wonderful creativity and endeavour".

Geordie Greig, editor of the Mail on Sunday and a close friend of Sir Vidia, said his death leaves a "gaping hole in Britain's literary heritage" but there is "no doubt" that his "books live on".

On social media, fans paid tribute to Sir Vidia and expressed their sadness.

Author Anand Giridharadas said he "learned so much" from him, while writer Jeet Heer called him a "powerful novelist" who "at his best approached Conrad and even the shadow of Dickens".

Beauty writer Patrice Yursik called Sir Vidia a "titan of Caribbean literature".

One fan said "no-one inspired me to read more than Naipaul" while another tweeted that his novel A House for Mr Biswas "stayed with me as a lasting memory for 30+ years".