“Confessions of a Shopaholic” Author Sophie Kinsella Dies at 55

British novelist Sophie Kinsella, known worldwide for her bestselling “Confessions of a Shopaholic” series, has died at the age of 55. Her family announced the news in a statement shared on Instagram on Wednesday, Dec. 10. Kinsella had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of glioblastoma brain cancer in 2022.

“We are heartbroken to announce the passing this morning of our beloved Sophie (aka Maddy, aka Mummy),” the family wrote. “She died peacefully, with her final days filled with her true loves: family and music and warmth and Christmas and joy.”

Her family added, “We can’t imagine what life will be like without her radiance and love of life,” noting that she faced her illness “with unimaginable courage” and remained “forever grateful for the love she received.”

Her Path to Writing

Born Madeleine Sophie Wickham in London in 1969, Kinsella studied music at Oxford before switching to politics, philosophy and economics. After graduation, she became a financial journalist. In a 2012 interview with The Guardian, she recalled the moment she realized she wanted to write fiction. “I didn't really have a game plan. And then it just hit me that actually, I want to make it up,” she said. “It was reading paperbacks on the way to work, thinking that's what I want to do.”

At 24, she published her first novel, “The Tennis Party,” which marked the beginning of a steady literary career. She went on to publish several novels under her real name before developing a distinctly different style that would lead to her global breakthrough.

Rise of the "Shopaholic" Series

Kinsella adopted her pen name for the 2000 novel “The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic,” later published in the United States as “Confessions of a Shopaholic.” “I changed my name to Sophie Kinsella (Sophie is my middle name and Kinsella is my mother’s maiden name) because the novels were so different to my Madeleine Wickham books,” she told Woman & Home Magazine in 2019. “I had found a new voice and way of writing, and I found it addictive.”

The series centered on Becky Bloomwood, a financial journalist whose compulsive shopping habit created both chaos and charm. Kinsella wrote nine additional novels about the character and often spoke about the connection readers felt with Becky. “When I meet readers, what’s so great is that it feels like we have a friend in common,” she told PEOPLE in 2010.

The popularity of the early books led to the 2009 film adaptation starring Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy, further expanding the series’ reach.

A Beloved Body of Work

Beyond the Shopaholic franchise, Kinsella wrote multiple standalone novels, including “The Burnout” in 2023, as well as young adult fiction and children’s picture books. She often explored the lives of characters in their twenties, a stage of life she described vividly in an interview with NPR in 2019. “I just think there's something exciting about the time of life when you're on the lookout for opportunities in all directions,” she said.

Her books were often categorized as “chick lit,” a label she accepted pragmatically. “I always thought 'chick lit' meant third-person contemporary funny novels, dealing with issues of the day,” she told The Guardian, though she preferred to call her work romantic comedy.

Marriage, Family, and Later Work

Kinsella met her husband, Henry Wickham, while studying at Oxford. They married in 1991 and later had five children. Describing their early commitment, she told The Irish Independent in 2019, “We were fortunate to have, almost the courage to say, ‘Right this is it. … We should be together. We'll be a great team.’”

In early 2024, she shared publicly that she had been receiving treatment for glioblastoma, writing on Instagram that she wanted her children to have privacy before the news became public. She credited the medical team at University College Hospital in London and expressed gratitude for the support around her.

In June 2024, she announced what would be her final work, a novella titled “What Does It Feel Like?”, which she described as her “most autobiographical work to date.”

Sophie is survived by her husband and children.