“Buying that dress” are three words that resonate with shoppers all around the world. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a Dior suit, a pleated linen shift or a magenta silk shirtdress. The implication is understood: it is a perfect dress, one that you probably can’t afford and one you definitely don’t need. In the opening chapter of Sophie Kinsella’s novel, WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE?, she shows us a dress: magical, silvery, goddess-like, all sequins and beaded shoestring straps. It is that dress. And she buys it.

Introducing this lighthearted moment connects us immediately to Eve Monroe, a successful, world-renowned author of many happy-ending novels. The “Before” of WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE? shows her current struggles of getting started on one more novel. Her own advice, “Write the book you would like to read yourself,” prompts her to produce a fabulous bestseller. Ever so quickly, a movie is optioned, then made, and it becomes a huge success. We see Eve at the film’s premiere. She walks the red carpet in that dress with an $80,000 borrowed bracelet on her wrist. She has everything she could possibly want. And she says so.

"WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE? is complicated and poignant. Because it is an ongoing story that is her life, Kinsella cannot write an accurate ending just yet."

The “After” section of the book opens in a hospital room. Eve is struggling to remember her name, the date and who the Prime Minister is. She wants to scratch her forehead for a moment, to help locate herself and to think. But there’s softness where her forehead should be, a bandage enclosing her entire head. The nurse asks questions that she clearly has asked many times before, and Eve continues to struggle with answers: “Hugh Grant?” Could he be the Prime Minister? No, it’s a woman. No, that was ages ago. After a few moments, Eve says she knows that Hugh Grant was not the Prime Minister; he was actually the Foreign Secretary. It’s a lame attempt at humor, she assures the nurse, and her husband, Nick, laughs with her. Nick is beside her now and always will be.

Figuring out what has led to these present circumstances is a daunting task for Eve. Nick answers the same questions of how, when and why, and he is there to remind her that she has seen and held her children, whose cards and drawings decorate her hospital room. The other serious symptoms that Nick noted and acted upon earlier have brought her here. As Eve gets answers and is able to process them, she learns that she had a brain tumor. An eight-hour operation successfully removed it, but the diagnosis remains in question. It is only a short period of time before she learns the devastating truth.

Loss of memory is just one of the symptoms of a brain tumor, but it is the most dramatic for Eve. As she says, “Here’s irony for you. My brain was the secret of my success when I was writing books. But now my brain’s the very thing causing all the problems.” Another irony is that Eve, whose books always have happy endings, is uncertain what the ending of this novel may be. The “After” section reveals the medical treatments, the build-ups for successes, and the heartbreaks of failure. She writes with simplicity and honesty that holding her husband’s hand while they walk together and watching her children play Scrabble are the only important things in life.

As readers may already know, Sophie Kinsella is Eve Monroe. Her condition mirrors Eve’s. Her remarkable husband, Henry, and devoted family are Eve’s. WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE? is complicated and poignant. Because it is an ongoing story that is her life, Kinsella cannot write an accurate ending just yet. However, she chooses to give Eve an ending that is full of promise and hope. We wish the same good fortune for Kinsella.