(London) British writer Nicholas Evans, author of the best-selling novel adapted for the cinema The Horse Whispererdied of a heart attack at the age of 72, his agent announced on Monday.
Posted at 8:23 a.m.
His death took place on August 9 but was not made public until almost a week later in a statement: “United Agents is very saddened to announce the passing of celebrated author Nicholas Evans who passed away suddenly on Tuesday, at following a heart attack.
Born in central England in 1950, he studied law in Oxford before becoming a journalist, for the local press and then television.
He is best known for his first novel which met with enormous success, The Horse Whispererpublished in 1995 and sold fifteen million copies worldwide.
The novel tells the story of a young girl seriously injured in a riding accident, during which her best friend is killed and her animal mutilated. To cure her, her mother decides on a last-ditch expedition to Montana, where the “whisperer” Tom Booker lives, who has a reputation for treating the most difficult horses.
The book was adapted for the cinema by Robert Redford, at the same time the director, the actor and the producer of this hymn to the great outdoors, to virgin nature and to horses.
Released in 1998, the film with Scarlett Johansson and Kristin Scott Thomas was nominated for an Oscar, without winning any prizes.