For millions of readers, Sophie Kinsella’s stories were pure joy – and now readers and writers alike are mourning her loss. The much-loved author behind the bestselling Shopaholic series has died following an aggressive form of brain cancer. In a moving statement, her family said they were “heartbroken’” and “can’t imagine life without her radiance and love of life.”
Kinsella brought so much laughter and delight into people’s lives with her charming but flawed characters, that this sad news has been felt deeply by many.
Her good friend Jojo Moyes shared on Instagram that Sophie was “more talented, more kind, more fun, more full of grace than anyone I’ve ever met.” And, I know from my own encounter with Moyes, she spoke warmly about Kinsella’s encouragement, which gave her the confidence to write her global hit Me Before You at a time when her own self-belief was at an all-time low – a testament to the generosity and warmth that defined Sophie as both a writer and a friend.
Queen of the 00s romcom
Hugh Dancy, Isla Fisher Jerry Bruckheimer and Sophie Kinsella, at the Confessions of a Shopaholic movie premiere in 2009
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Born Madeleine Sophie Wickham, Kinsella was adored for creating stories filled with warmth, wit and wonderfully chaotic characters.
From the charm of Becky Bloomwood – the debt-ridden financial journalist in Confessions of a Shopaholic – to her standalone novels Can You Keep a Secret? and My Not So Perfect Life, her books offered a particular kind of escapism. Her stories were funny, romantic, and always grounded in real-life emotions and everyday anxieties of the modern woman.
Romantic comedies often don’t get the credit they deserve, but Kinsella shaped the genre during the early 2000s, a golden era for women’s commercial fiction. Her stories were witty and feel-good on the surface, but beneath the humour lay sharp observations about identity, self-esteem, ambition, and the messy realities of growing up. To many readers, including myself, she was the undisputed queen of the romcom.
One of her funniest novels, The Undomestic Goddess, remains unforgettable to me. I still remember trying to stifle laughter on a London commute as the heroine – a high-powered lawyer mistaken for a housekeeper – was plunged into domestic disasters. That book still sits proudly on my shelf.
And, who could forget Confessions of a Shopaholic? Published in 2000, it became a global hit and later inspired a cult-favourite film starring Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy.
Kinsella went on to write eight further Shopaholic books and 18 other novels, including YA and children’s titles.
Sophie Kinsella’s last novel
Her most recent novel, What Does It Feel Like?, follows a writer recovering from brain tumour surgery and is considered her most autobiographical work – profoundly sad and deeply emotional, yet life-affirming, warm and funny.
Her books have sold over 40 million copies and been translated into dozens of languages.
How I’ll remember Sophie
I was fortunate to meet Sophie once at a breakfast event. Knowing how much I adored her writing, I was placed beside her – and arrived nervously. But there was no need. In person, she was everything I hoped she would be: warm, elegant, gracious, and genuinely interested in others.
She spoke lovingly of her family, and it was clear why people loved her, not only for her stories but for her kindness.
Sophie Kinsella leaves behind a remarkable legacy – one of laughter, heart, and characters who helped so many of us feel seen.
From the hundreds of interactions and comments from woman&home readers on Facebook and Instagram, we can see you loved her and her novels as much as us.
