Author Sophie Kinsella, who is known for her bestselling Shopaholic novel series, has died aged 55 after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer.
The novelist, whose real name is Madeleine Sophie Wickham, announced her diagnosis in an Instagram post in April last year, explaining that she had been receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
© Stefania D'AlessandroKinsella's death was announced by her family in a post shared to her Instagram account. 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."
The post concluded: "She will be missed so much our hearts are breaking."
Kinsella leaves behind five children, whom she shares with her husband Henry Wickham.
Sophie Kinsella's cancer diagnosis
In April 2024, Kinsella shared her cancer diagnosis with her Instagram followers, explaining that she kept the news private until her children could process the news and adapt to their "new normal".
"At the end of 2022 I was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of aggressive brain cancer," she penned at the time. "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.'"
© Getty ImagesShe continued: "I have been under the care of the excellent team at University College Hospital in London and have had successful surgery and subsequent radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which is still ongoing."
Following her diagnosis, Kinsella wrote the fiction novel What Does It Feel Like?, released in October 2024, about a novelist who is diagnosed with a malignant brian tumor and has to learn how to put her life back together. The story, while fictional, was inspired by Kinsella's own diagnosis.
Sophie Kinsella's family life
Sophie raised a generation of young girls with her Shopaholic book series, but behind her novels, she was a proud mother of five. The writer, whose real name is Madeleine Wickham, shared her sons, Freddy, 28, Hugo, 26, Oscar, 19, Rex, 15, and daughter Sybella, 14, with her husband of 34 years, Henry Wickham.
Though Sophie's family life was something she kept largely out of the public eye, the author did speak to the Irish Independent in February 2012 about the age gap between her eldest and her youngest.
"In principle, I'd always liked the idea of a big family. But I couldn't have had five close together," she said. "It's been more of a case of realising that our first two, who are close in age, were growing up really quickly, and so there was a bit of, 'Are we done with being parents? No, we're not involved."She also opened up about having a girl after four boys. "When I was told it was a girl, I either got the reaction of, 'How lovely, friend for life, you can go shopping,' or those who said, 'You don't know what you're in for.' It's a challenge, but bring it on."
© Getty ImagesHer relationship with her husband, Sophie once said, was her key to being able to balance her writing career with raising their brood. "My husband is a really hands-on father, and my mother comes round every day. If I didn't have that, I would probably find it impossible," she said in 2012.
Sophie's role as a mother also played into her venture into the world of children's book writing, which started with the Young Adult novel, Finding Audrey, published in 2015, before she went on to pen the Mummy Fairy and Me series for five to seven-year-olds.
"I loved writing my book for young adults, Finding Audrey, and am now very excited to see my first series for much younger children on bookshelves around the world," Sophie told her readers via her website. "As a mother of five children myself, I know how precious stories are: how they feed the imagination and are a brilliant way for families to bond.
"I created Mummy Fairy and Me – known as Fairy Mom and Me in the States and Canada – at my own children's bedtime," she recalled. "We laughed so much at the adventures of Ella and her magical mother that I couldn't wait to share the characters with a wider audience."
A statement from Sophie's agents
Araminta Whitley and Marina de Pass, Kinsella's agents at The Soho Agency, said she was "a once-in-a-lifetime author and friend".
In a statement, they said: "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.
© Ian West - PA Images"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."
They 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."
Sophie Kinsella's best-known novels
Kinsella's most recent release, after What Does It Feel Like?, is The Burnout, which was published the previous year in 2023. Her other best-selling books include Can You Keep A Secret? and The Undomestic Goddess.
© Dave M. BenettKinsella's novels have sold more than 45 million copies in more than 60 countries, and have been translated into over 40 languages.
Her 2000 novel, Confessions of a Shopaholic, was adapted into a film in 2009, starring Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy. The story follows shopping addict and journalist Rebecca Bloomwood who is drowning in debt thanks to her expensive habit. After landing a job as an advice columnist for a financial magazine, which becomes an overnight success, her secret threatens to ruin both her career and her love life.
