Sophie Kinsella has died, wrote "I Love Shopping"

British writer Sophie Kinsella has died. She had told people in 2024 that she was ill: she had been diagnosed with a particularly aggressive brain tumor. It was two days before her 56th birthday. She lived in London with her husband and their five children.

The news of her passing was spread on the morning of Dec. 10 via social media. The announcement came from the family, who wrote on their Instagram account, “We are deeply saddened to report the death of our beloved Sophie (also Maddy and Mom to us). She died peacefully, surrounded in her last days by what she truly loved: family, music, warmth, Christmas and joy. We cannot imagine life without her light and enthusiasm. Despite her illness, which she faced with incredible courage, Sophie felt blessed by her family, friends and success as a writer. She never took anything for granted and was deeply grateful for the affection she received. She will be missed immensely.” Kinsella would have turned 56 two days later.

Born Madeleine Sophie Wickham Townley, she had begun her career in journalism before achieving worldwide fame with I Love Shopping, published in 2000. The protagonist of her most famous novels is Becky Bloomwood, an impulsive and messy young woman who cannot contain herself when faced with shopping, a central character in the series that has sold more than forty million copies worldwide. A movie was also made from the first book, released in 2009 and directed by P. J. Hogan, with Isla Fisher in the lead role.