On Wednesday morning, I read the very sad news that Sophie Kinsella had died from glioblastoma, which she was diagnosed with three years ago. She was an author who brought me so much joy when I read her books. She wrote funny but also very smart women’s fiction with her lead character, Becky Bloomwood, in her Shopaholic books. The first installment in the series, CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC, was published in the US in 2001. That was five years after Bookreporter launched and three years after “Sex and the City” premiered with Carrie Bradshaw embracing her own sense of style. I still remember reading an early copy of that book and wanting to talk about it with everyone.
I love the story of how Sophie came to write that first Becky book after she was in a shop one day and thought about her own credit card bill: “Who could have spent that?” From there, the idea of Becky and Shopaholic was born.
With Becky, we shopped and shopped, and we held our breath as she dug herself in deeper and deeper financial trouble. These were armchair shopping trips for so many of us. The debacles that Becky found herself in made us laugh and smile. She had her own brand of humor. There was a certain cadence to the words that would parse out the laughs and make us want to talk about the books with others. They were smart and sophisticated, and they had their own sense of style.
And oh, how we followed Becky’s boyfriend and then husband on the pages. I loved the steps that she would go to in order to hide her purchases and bills from him. Years ago, I worked with a woman who kept dry cleaner bags in her office. She recently had gotten married, and after shopping she would put one of the bags over the clothes so she could hide that they were new. That would have been a Becky/Shopaholic plotline. Luke was one very patient man who clearly loved his wife.
Becky was featured in eight more bestselling books: SHOPAHOLIC TAKES MANHATTAN, SHOPAHOLIC TIES THE KNOT, SHOPAHOLIC & SISTER, SHOPAHOLIC & BABY, MINI SHOPAHOLIC, SHOPAHOLIC TO THE STARS, SHOPAHOLIC TO THE RESCUE and CHRISTMAS SHOPAHOLIC.
Sophie also wrote 12 stand-alone novels, all of which have been bestsellers around the world: CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?, THE UNDOMESTIC GODDESS, REMEMBER ME?, TWENTIES GIRL, I’VE GOT YOUR NUMBER, WEDDING NIGHT, MY NOT SO PERFECT LIFE, SURPRISE ME, I OWE YOU ONE, LOVE YOUR LIFE, THE PARTY CRASHER and THE BURNOUT.
In 2014, Sophie published a young adult novel, FINDING AUDREY, which is about a teenage girl with social anxiety. She later released an illustrated children’s book series, Fairy Mom and Me, which is about a mother-daughter fairy duo.
Sophie wrote her first novel using her real name, Madeleine Wickham, when she was just 24. At the time she was a financial journalist. Under that name, she published THE TENNIS PARTY, A DESIRABLE RESIDENCE, SWIMMING POOL SUNDAY, THE GATECRASHER, THE WEDDING GIRL, COCKTAILS FOR THREE and SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS.
I share all of these titles, many of which you may not have read, so you have an opportunity to explore Sophie’s world a little deeper during this sad time.
I feel like only Sophie could take her experience with brain cancer and write a novel for readers to try to understand what she was going through. She created a fictitious character that mirrored her own life. With humor and honesty, she wrote what it was like to build your life back after brain surgery in WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE? It follows Eve Monroe, a successful novelist and mother of five who has cancer. When I read it last year, I knew it was special and made it a 2024 Bookreporter.com Bets On selection.
After Eve learned to walk again, like Sophie, she was challenged in rehab to do something that was very spot-on for a Brit: make a proper cup of tea again. When asked why she wrote such a personal book, Sophie responded: “I have always processed my life through writing. Hiding behind my fictional characters, I have always turned my own life into a narrative. It is my version of therapy, maybe. Writing is my happy place, and writing this book, although tough going at times, was immensely satisfying and therapeutic for me.”
Sophie had walked the red carpet wearing beautiful dresses when two of her books were adapted as films. She has sold over 50 million copies of her books in more than 60 countries, and they have been translated into over 40 languages.
But when there were signals that her time was limited, Sophie chose the joy of the little moments.
She embraced life with a new gusto. Instead of doing things like heading to the Galapagos or to another exotic location, she opted to take normal life and ramp it up a notch. Because she loved beautiful scents, she thought about spraying her pillow with something special. She wanted to think about getting the good biscuits to have with her tea. She wanted to buy the good marmalade, not the cheap stuff. Most of all, she wanted to soak up all of the special moments that she could with her family.
I teared up watching Sophie’s interview with Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” last year and her “Nightline” segment. It was clear that she wanted to have as many minutes as she could with her family, and I saw the love that passed between her and her husband who sat beside her.
Her bravery, as much as her writing, was something that she shared with us. Sadly, at this time, there is no cure for glioblastoma, so it is not like she could have written her way out of this one.
Sophie died at 55, just two days before her 56th birthday, which would have been today. Of course, she was a Sagittarius.
As for her own happy ending, this from her “GMA” segment stayed with me as I thought of her over the last year: “My happy ending is that whatever happens to me, my family is OK. I think that's my happy ending. Because that's what I care about.”
To celebrate Sophie’s life, think about doing something extra for yourself today. Pluck one of her books from your own shelf or a library shelf, and read or re-read it. Think about gifting one of her books to someone who just needs to laugh and smile. Or make a donation to a cancer charity to support research for a cure.
Sophie would want you to remember her with a smile. I am smiling as I close this piece.
