Sophie Kinsella, Author of the ‘Shopaholic’ Book Series, Dead at 55

Sophie Kinsella, the author of the million-selling Shopaholic book series, has died at the age of 55.

The family of the British author born Madeleine Townley announced her death on Wednesday, a year after she was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

“We are heartbroken to announce the passing this morning of our beloved Sophie (aka Maddy, aka Mummy). She died peacefully, with her final days filled with her true loves: family and music and warmth and Christmas and joy,” Kinsella’s family said in a statement. “We can’t imagine what life will be like without her radiance and love of life.”

A financial journalist before entering the world of fiction, Townley penned her first novel in 1995 while in her twenties under her married name, Madeleine Wickham. She wrote a handful of novels in the Nineties under her married name before adopting the pen name Sophie Kinsella, culled from her middle name Sophie and her mother’s maiden name.

As Kinsella, she authored the chick lit classic The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic (or Confessions of a Shopaholic in the United States) in 2000. The book — about a financial journalist who struggles with her own money issues — was wildly successful with readers, selling millions of copies worldwide, and launched a series that spanned nine books and one short story over the next 20 years.

In 2009, the first novel in the series was adapted into the film Confessions of a Shopaholic, starring Isla Fisher. Another novel authored under the Kinsella name, 2003’s Can You Keep a Secret?, was adapted for the big screen in 2009.

Kinsella’s final novel What Does It Feel Like? was published in 2004; the book was a fictionalized version of the author’s own health ordeal, focusing on a successful novelist named Eve who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.

“What Does It Feel Like? is fiction, but it is my most autobiographical work to date. Eve’s story is my story,” Kinsella said in a statement prior to its release.

“Why did I write such a personal book? I have always processed my life through writing. Hiding behind my fictional characters, I have always turned my own life into a narrative. It is my version of therapy, maybe. Writing is my happy place, and writing this book, although tough going at times, was immensely satisfying and therapeutic for me.”

From Rolling Stone US.