Doris Lessing, who wrote the landmark 1962 novel The Golden Notebook and won the Nobel Prize, has died aged 94.The British author died peacefully at her London home in the early hours today, a spokesman said.She was hailed as one of the great 20th Century writers for her masterpiece, which fused critique of the British Communist Party with the thriving women's liberation movement.Ms Lessing was born in Persia, now Iran, in 1919 and grew up in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.She left for London after the Second World War with the manuscript of her first novel The Grass Is Singing in her suitcase.Published in 1950, it would be the first work of 54, including poetry, two operas, short stories, plays and non-fiction.She wrote passionately about Communism, social issues and later turned to psychological novels. Her opposition to Apartheid led her work to join the long list of books banned in South Africa.She was not universally loved by critics at first but finally, in 2007, she won the Nobel Prize for Literature - becoming the oldest ever recipient aged 88.She was also only the 11th woman to win the award.Jonathan Clowes, her long time friend and agent, said today that he was greatly saddened by the news.He said: 'She was a wonderful writer with a fascinating and original mind; it was a privilege to work for her and we shall miss her immensely.'Tributes to the late Ms Lessing have poured in from friends and colleagues, who have heralded her novels as 'handbooks' to a generation of readers.Nicholas Pearson, her editor at HarperCollins, said: 'Doris’s long life and career was a great gift to world literature.'She wrote across a variety of genres and made an enormous cultural impact. Probably she’ll be most remembered for The Golden Notebook which became a handbook to a whole generation, but her many books have spoken to us in so many various ways.'Doris has been called a visionary and, to be in her company, which was a privilege I had as her editor towards the end of her writing life, was to experience something of that.'Even in very old age she was always intellectually restless, reinventing herself, curious about the changing world around us, always completely inspirational. We’ll miss her hugely.'The publishing house’s UK chief executive, Charlie Redmayne, added: 'Doris Lessing was one of the great writers of our age. She was a compelling storyteller with a fierce intellect and a warm heart who was not afraid to fight for what she believed in. It was an honour for HarperCollins to publish her.'Justifying her Nobel Prize six years ago, the Academy described the author as an 'epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny'.In response, Ms Lessing famously poked fun at the judges for snubbing her work 40 years earlier. She joked: 'So now they've decided they're going to give it to me. So why? I mean, why do they like me any better now than they did then?'The writer is survived by her daughter Jean and granddaughters Anna and Susannah.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az