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Kinsella, who also published under her real name, Madeleine Wickham, announced in April 2024 that she had been diagnosed more than a year earlier with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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 \u2019new normal,\u2019\u201d she said at the time.<\/p>\n
Kinsella published 10 \u201cShopaholic\u201d novels starting in 2000 with \u201cThe Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic,\u201d titled \u201cConfessions of a Shopaholic\u201d in the United States, as well as other fiction. Her books have sold more than 45 million copies worldwide and have been translated into dozens of languages.<\/p>\n
From journalism to fiction<\/p>\n
Kinsella did not grow up intending to be a writer. One of three girls born to teachers in London, she played piano and violin as a child and also composed music.<\/p>\n
She told author-publisher Zibby Owens on her podcast, \u201cMoms Don\u2019t Have Time to Read Books,\u201d that the idea of writing never crossed her mind. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t my childhood ambition. I wasn\u2019t the child walking around saying, \u2018I\u2019m going to write a novel one day.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Kinsella enrolled at Oxford University to study music but switched to the politics, philosophy and economics program after one year.<\/p>\n
While at college, she met musician Henry Wickham and fell in love. The couple had four sons and a daughter.<\/p>\n
After graduating, Kinsella began working as a financial journalist and spent her commute reading. The idea to write fiction herself began to take shape on the train, and she worked on her first novel during her lunch hours.<\/p>\n
She published her first novel, \u201dThe Tennis Party,\u201d in 1995, as Madeleine Wickham. Soon after, she left her journalism job to focus on writing. Six other books, including \u201cThe Gatecrasher\u201d and \u201cSleeping Arrangements,\u201d followed.<\/p>\n
\u2018Shopaholic\u2019 success<\/p>\n
An otherwise normal shopping excursion sparked the idea for writing her first \u201cShopaholic\u201d novel<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember looking around me and thinking… \u201cWe all shop… We talk about it. We do it. We rejoice in it. We make bad decisions. Why hasn\u2019t anybody written about this?\u201d Kinsella said in 2019 on \u201cThe Sunday Salon with Alice-Azania Jarvis\u201d podcast.<\/p>\n
Kinsella created a story about Becky Bloomwood, a 20-something financial journalist in debt from a shopping habit she can\u2019t (or won\u2019t) kick. The novel contained hilarious back-and-forth correspondence with bill collectors and banks, where she would make excuses for late payments. Kinsella said those letters were one of the most fun bits to write.<\/p>\n
There was also a love story with a handsome businessman whom Becky met while on assignment. She went on to marry and have a mini-shopaholic daughter in future books. <\/p>\n
The humorous tone of \u201cConfessions of a Shopaholic\u201d was a change from her earlier books, so she decided to submit it to her publishers under a pen name. Her middle name was Sophie and Kinsella was her mother\u2019s maiden name.<\/p>\n
The publishers said yes, and \u201cShopaholic\u201d was published in 2000 under her pseudonym. The novel, blending humor with a cautionary tale about getting in over your head with debt, was an immediate success.<\/p>\n
Kinsella said Becky was a modern everywoman whose behavior was \u201cwhat you wouldn\u2019t do yourself, but maybe you would if you were in absolute extreme circumstances. And that\u2019s what she finds herself in all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bloomwood\u2019s further adventures followed in books including \u201cShopaholic Takes Manhattan,\u201d \u201cShopaholic Ties the Knot\u201d and \u201cShopaholic & Sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with \u201cBridget Jones\u201d author Helen Fielding and others, Kinsella\u2019s work was often branded \u201cchick lit\u201d by the media. She told the AP in 2004 she didn\u2019t mind the label, interpreting it as signaling a book that is \u201cfun, entertaining and might just have a happy ending.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because you are interested in frivolous things doesn\u2019t mean that you can\u2019t be bright and have great ideas and the rest of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The first two \u201cShopaholic\u201d books were adapted into the 2009 film \u201cConfessions of a Shopaholic,\u201d starring Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy.<\/p>\n
Kinsella also wrote \u201cThe Undomestic Goddess\u201d, \u201cRemember Me?\u201d and \u201cTwenties Girl.\u201d A young adult novel, \u201cFinding Audrey,\u201d was released in 2015, followed by the children\u2019s book series \u201cMy Mummy Fairy and Me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her novel \u201cCan You Keep a Secret?\u201d was adapted into a 2019 film starring Alexandra Daddario and Tyler Hoechlin. Her last novel was \u201cThe Burnout,\u201d released in 2023.<\/p>\n
Illness and hope<\/p>\n
In November 2022, after experiencing symptoms including memory loss, headaches and balance troubles, Kinsella was diagnosed with glioblastoma, for which there is no cure. She kept the news private until April 2024. In an interview with TV personality Robin Roberts aired a few months later, Kinsella said she was focused on living in the moment. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve already lasted more than the average. That\u2019s how we get through. We hope,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
After her diagnosis, she wrote a novella, \u201cWhat Does It Feel Like,\u201d about a woman with five children who has brain cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought people might be curious to know what it\u2019s like to go through this,\u201d Kinsella told Roberts. \u201cI hope it\u2019s full of optimism and love most of all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Araminta Whitley and Marina de Pass, Kinsella\u2019s agents at The Soho Agency, said the writer \u201chad 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bill Scott-Kerr, her publisher at Transworld, said Kinsella leaves behind \u201ca unique voice, an unquenchable spirit, a goodness of intent and a body of work that will continue to inspire us to reach higher and be better, just like so many of her characters.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Rancilio reported from Detroit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON (AP) \u2014 Writer Sophie Kinsella, whose effervescent rom-com \u201cConfessions of a Shopaholic\u201d sparked a millions-selling series, died…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":439403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[202934,3881,202935,145497,36029,435,171,57,51,160201,135168,202931,202932,50,12299,202933,202930,52,33452,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-439402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-alexandra-daddario","9":"tag-ap-top-news","10":"tag-becky-bloomwood","11":"tag-bill-scott-kerr","12":"tag-books-and-literature","13":"tag-celebrity","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-headlines","17":"tag-hugh-dancy","18":"tag-isla-fisher","19":"tag-madeleine-wickham","20":"tag-marina-de-pass","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-notable-deaths","23":"tag-robin-roberts","24":"tag-sophie-kinsella","25":"tag-top-stories","26":"tag-tyler-hoechlin","27":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115699314238732760","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}