Sophie Kinsella has died at the age of 55.
The British author, best known for her 2000 novel, “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of glioblastoma brain cancer in 2022.
Her family announced her passing via Instagram on Wednesday.
“We are heartbroken to announce the passing this morning of our beloved Sophie (aka Maddy, aka Mummy),” her loved ones shared on social media. “She died peacefully, with her final days filled with her true loves: family and music and warmth and Christmas and joy.”
The family continued, “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 message concluded: “She will be missed so much our hearts are breaking.”
Kinsella revealed her health battle in April 2024.
“At the end of 2022 I was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of aggressive brain cancer,” she wrote on Instagram 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,’” she shared via Instagram at the time.
“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,” she explained. “At the moment all is stable and I am feeling generally very well, though I get very tired and my memory is even worse than it was before!”
She went on to “send love and best wishes” to those who also suffered from cancer.
“It can feel very lonely and scary to have a tough diagnosis, and the support and care of those around you means more than words can say,” she noted.
Actress Isla Fisher commented at the time: “Sending you so much love and healing energy. ❤️❤️.”
Born in London in 1969, the author — born Madeleine Wickham — studied music at Oxford before switching to economics, politics and philosophy and becoming a financial journalist.
She debuted her first novel, “The Tennis Party,” at age 24 and went on to write six more novels under the name Wickham. She’d later go by Sophie Kinsella when she hit mainstream success with “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” which was initially published as “The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic.” Sophie was her middle name and Kinsella was her mother’s maiden name.
Fisher, 49, would go on to star in the 2009 film adaptation of Kinsella’s work.
This story is developing.
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