My mother texted me yesterday morning to tell me Maeve Binchy had died and I started crying. Not just for the fact we have lost a heart-warming author who resonated with women all over the world but because we have lost a great person.

I loved listening to Maeve Binchy talk – about anything. I would stop whatever I was doing just to sit and listen whenever she came on radio or TV, and I loved her Irish Times columns. She was incredibly witty and funny, kind, compassionate, honest, warm and insightful. She understood all the knots we frequently tie ourselves in and could see the humour in that too. She was wise enough to offer words of advice. She brought a huge common sense to everything she touched and she kept it real in her life and her writing – saying ‘I don’t have ugly ducklings turn into swans in my books; I have them turn into confident ducks’.

I could see myself as one of the passengers on 'The Lilac Bus', raced through 'The Copper Beach' in one sitting on a sunny day, empathised with the main character so much in 'Circle of Friends' I was almost too sick with nerves to finish it. But I think my favourite was her first, 'Light A Penny Candle', published in 1982, following two girls from opposite sides of the Irish Sea through their lives after the second world war.

I feel so sad today for her husband Gordon and all of her family. I feel sad for Ireland mourning the loss of a national hero. And I feel sad for her readers all over the world who will never again have a new Maeve Binchy book to look forward to.

But somebody made a very good observation on Twitter yesterday – ‘what a talent well used and what a life well spent’. She very much celebrated her own life while she lived it, answering the question ‘Have you been lucky in life?’ by saying, ‘I have been luckier than anyone I know or even heard of. I had a very happy childhood, a good education, I enjoyed working as a teacher, journalist and author. I have loved a wonderful man for over 33 years and I believe he loves me too. I have great family and good friends, the stories I told became popular and people all over the world bought them. If anyone heard me complaining I should be taken out and shot!’

The world is a poorer place without her. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam - May she rest in peace

See a list of all of her books here