“We are heartbroken to announce the passing this morning of our beloved Sophie (aka Maddy, aka Mummy),” her family announced on social media. “She died peacefully, with her final days filled with her true loves: family and music and warmth and Christmas and joy.”
Kinsella, who also published under her real name, Madeleine Wickham, went public with her diagnosis last year of glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
“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,” her family said.
She died at her home in Dorset, England. She was 55.
Kinsella, whose real name was Madeleine Wickham, was born in London in 1969. She wrote her first novel, “The Tennis Party,” at age 24, when she worked as a financial journalist.
The writer celebrated a special milestone in July after sales of her books reached 50 million copies.
At the time, she thanked everyone who had read her books and said she was “full of love” for everyone who joined in with her.
Her publisher recently re-released her first book, featuring her main character Becky Bloomwood, “The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic,” titled “Confessions of a Shopaholic” in the United States.
Her first book was made into a big-screen hit with the Disney movie “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” starring Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy.
When she was first diagnosed, she said she had a hard time discussing it. Kinsella had surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy for at least two years before she publicly announced her diagnosis.
She said she kept her condition private to allow her children and family to adapt to their “new normal.”
In 2024, Kinsella published her final work, a novella called “What Does It Feel Like?” The story was a poignant and witty account of her cancer journey written after her surgery.
She lived in Dorset with her husband, Henry Wickham, and five children, Freddy, Hugo, Oscar, Rex, and Sybella.
