The writer Maeve Binchy who has died, aged 72, was described as a darling by fellow novelist Jilly Cooper.

She said: "She was a darling, I am very, very very sad" and she described the Irish writer as "so kind and so funny and so captivating - she was just a brilliant, brilliant writer".

Ms Cooper spoke to the Today programme's Jim Naughtie after they listened to an archive interview from BBC Radio Four's Woman's Hour.

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