'Confessions of a Shopaholic' novelist Sophie Kinsella dies aged 55
Sophie Kinsella. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Madeleine Wickham, known for writing the bestselling novel under her pen name Sophie Kinsella, has died aged 55.
Ms Wickham, dubbed “the queen of romantic comedy” by novelist Jojo Moyes, wrote more than 30 books for adults, children and teenagers, which have sold more than 45m copies.
In April 2024, she announced that she was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer, at the end of 2022, and had undergone radiotherapy and chemotherapy after surgery.
Ms Wickham was born in London in 1969. She studied music at New College, Oxford, before switching to Philosophy, Politics and Economics. After graduation, she became a financial journalist, but she said she found the job dull. During the long commute to central London, she would read paperbacks by the likes of Mary Wesley and Joanna Trollope, and began wanting to write a book.
At 24, she wrote her first novel, , about a group of friends who take part in a weekend tournament.
“My overriding concern was that I didn’t write the autobiographical first novel,” Ms Wickham told in 2012. “I was so, so determined not to write about a 24-year-old journalist. It was going to have male characters, and middle-aged people, so I could say, look, I’m not just writing about my life, I’m a real author.”
was the first of seven novels Wickham wrote under her real name, published yearly between 1995 and 2001, including , , and . was adapted as a musical by Chris Burgess.
The Madeleine Wickham books are “rather different” from her later Sophie Kinsella books, said the author.
“They’re a bit more serious, a bit darker and are all ensemble pieces without a main heroine, but groups of characters whose lives interlink in some way.”
Ms Wickham submitted her first manuscript written under the name Sophie Kinsella, , without revealing her identity to her publishers. The book — issued as in some countries — was published in 2000 and became the first of 10 instalments in the Shopaholic series. The stories follow Becky Bloomwood, a financial journalist with a spending problem.
“I thought, wait a minute, shopping has become the national pastime, and nobody has written about it,” said Ms Wickham. “It felt very much like an experimental project.”
The series’ first and second novels — the latter titled — were adapted for film. , directed by PJ Hogan and starring Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy, was released in 2009.
Beginning in 2003, Ms Wickham also published standalone novels as Sophie Kinsella. These include , , and . Her most recent standalone, published in 2023, is titled , which she was inspired to write after experiencing it herself and seeing it “around [her] everywhere”.
Protagonist Sasha goes to a Devon beach resort she loved as a child to recuperate from burnout, but finds the once grand hotel now dilapidated, and has to share the beach with the grumpy Finn.
“The wonderful response to has really buoyed me up during a difficult time,” wrote Ms Wickham in the announcement of her cancer diagnosis.
Public messages of support came from Ms Fisher, who played Becky in , as well as romance writer Ms Moyes and thriller writer Gillian McAllister.
- The Guardian
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