Author Bebe Cambell dies at age 56

Author Bebe Moore Campbell, whose books dealt with race and mental health issues, has died of complications from brain cancer aged 56.
Campbell's novels included Brothers and Sisters, which explored the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

She also tackled mental illness in the 2002 children's novel Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry.

"My wife was a phenomenal woman. We will miss her immensely," said her husband, Ellis Gordon Jnr.

Campbell, whose full name was Elizabeth Bebe Moore Campbell Gordon, was born in February 1950 in Philadelphia.

Accolades

One of her first novels was Your Blues Ain't Like Mine, which was published in 1992 and spanned a 40-year period dealing with prejudice in the United States.

The book earned her an National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Image Award for literature.

Her 2001 novel What You Owe Me, in which two women set up a cosmetics empire, was named book of the year by the Los Angeles Times.

Campbell also wrote children's books, including Stompin' at the Savoy, which came out in September, and I'm So Hungry, which is due to be published early next year.

She died in her Los Angeles home on Monday and is survived by her husband, two children, grandchildren and her mother