Sophie Kinsella, author of smash hit Shopaholic series, dead at 55
Sophie Kinsella - who sold millions of copies of her books, including the blockbuster hit Shopaholic series - has died, her family confirmed.
World-famous author Sophie Kinsella has tragically died aged 55 after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, her family have said.
The best-selling author penned the Shopaholic series, and the first two novels were adapted into the famous 2009 film Confessions Of A Shopaholic, starring Isla Fisher.
In April 2024, the mum-of-five revealed that she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, shocking fans everywhere, reports The Sun.
She first knew something was wrong when she began losing her balance, tripping over and suffering severe headaches.
The “aggressive” tumour was discovered and she underwent an eight-hour surgery to get it removed.
After the operation, she had no memory of her diagnosis nor the surgery.
Her family announced the author’s death in a touching statement posted to her Instagram account on Wednesday.
It read: “We are heartbroken to announce the passing this morning of our beloved Sophie (aka Maddy, aka Mummy). She died peacefully, with her final days filled with her true loves: family and music and warmth and Christmas and joy.
“We can’t imagine what life will be like without her radiance and love of life.
“Despite her illness, which she bore with unimaginable courage, Sophie counted herself truly blessed – to have such wonderful family and friends, and to have had the extraordinary success of her writing career. She took nothing for granted and was forever grateful for the love she received.
“She will be missed so much our hearts are breaking.”
She announced her cancer to devastated fans last year: “At the end of 2022 I was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of aggressive brain cancer.
“I did not share this before because I wanted to make sure that my children were able to hear and process the news in privacy and adapt to our ‘new normal.”
She said in the post that she had been receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
She released The Burnout in October 2023 and her other best-selling books include Can You Keep A Secret? and The Undomestic Goddess.
Her novels have sold more than 45 million copies in more than 60 countries, and have been translated into more than 40 languages.
A graduate of New College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, with a Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) degree, Kinsella first worked as a financial journalist before pursuing a career in writing fiction novels.
She admitted that being a journalist wasn’t her first choice, but rather her only choice at the beginning of her career.
Kinsella started writing and publishing novels at the age of 24 under her real name but decided to switch to a pseudonym just right before she worked on the Shopaholic books.
She leaves behind five children, whom she shares with her husband Henry Wickham.
According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, glioblastoma is a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumour that affects a specific brain tissue and is often located in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain.
It’s also the most common malignant brain tumour, representing 47.7% of cases.
Araminta Whitley and Marina de Pass, Sophie Kinsella’s agents at The Soho Agency, said of the author, whose full name was Madeleine Sophie Wickham: “Maddy was a once-in a-lifetime author and friend, and it has been the privilege of our working lives to represent her since the beginning of her career.
“Over the last three decades, her success has been truly international: she published 34 novels across adult, YA (young adult) and children’s publishing that have topped charts around the world, breaking records and defying expectations. Yet reaching higher heights wasn’t what drove her.
“Maddy was an intelligent, imaginative, loving and irreverent woman who valued the deeply connective power of fiction. She had a rare gift for creating emotionally resonant protagonists and stories that spoke to, and entertained, readers wherever they were in the world and whatever challenges they faced.
“She also had an unmatched wit and ability to find the funny side.
“Comedy, for her, was both an art form and an intellectual pursuit and she instinctively understood that it is often a tightrope act of balancing light with dark.”
Their statement added: “It is hard to contemplate life and work without Maddy. We will remember her for her warmth, insight and irrepressible sense of humour, for the magnificent, witty and resonant novels she leaves behind, and for making our days infinitely more meaningful and fun.
“We are completely heartbroken at her death. We loved her dearly and will miss her more than we can say.”
This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
Originally published as Sophie Kinsella, author of smash hit Shopaholic series, dead at 55
