Romance novelist Judith Krantz dies at 91

Judith Krantz, whose best-selling romance novels told racy tales of the rich, died of natural causes on Saturday, her publicist said. She was 91.

Krantz is known for her novels “Mistral’s Daughter” (1983), “I’ll Take Manhattan” (1986) and “Scruples” (1978). She’s sold over 80 million copies of her novels, and they’ve been translated into over 50 languages, her publicist said.

Krantz graduated from Wellesley College in 1948. After graduating, she spent a year in Paris working in fashion public relations. When she returned to New York City, her hometown, she began her career in magazine journalism.

Krantz worked primarily in fashion, working as the fashion editor for Good Housekeeping and writing for outlets like Cosmopolitan, for which she wrote her best-known article, “The Myth of the Multiple Orgasm.” She was a journalist for about 30 years before she published “Scruples,” her first novel.

The book, which chronicled the over-the-top lifestyle of the people who work a Beverly Hills boutique, became a huge success, remaining on the New York Times Best Sellers list for more than a year. Her novels were known for their focus on the wealthy, love and sex. Some of her novels were produced into television miniseries as well.

Krantz married Steve Krantz, a film and television producer, in 1954. He died in 2007 from complications with pneumonia.

Authors across genres reacted to the news of her death on Twitter, including Kellye Garrett, Sarah Weinman, and duo Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan.

“I literally just gasped when I read that Judith Krantz passed away. A legend,” Garrett tweeted. “I remember thinking I was grown at 13 because my mom let me read her books.”